Too Sweet
by ThatWriterGirlWWE
Summary: After Shawn Michaels trusted the care of his daughter, the newest WWE Superstar: Lily on the road to Finn Bálor, Finn quickly learns that you can't avoid the consequences of crossing the line. Is he ready to risk it all to be with her?
1. Lilith Hickenbottom

**To my regular readers:** As promised, here is my new story featuring Finn Balor.

 **To any new readers:** Before you read this story and go "who tf is Della, Sadie and Marina?" I have another fic featuring those characters and thought it would be cool to let them cameo in this story and let Finn and Lilith cameo in the other story eventually. **You DO NOT have to read the other story to follow along with this one. Just think of them as random NXT wrestlers.**

* * *

 **Ashley: Happy Birthday!**

 **Lilith: Thanks!**

 **Ashley: Have u talked to him yet?**

 **Lilith: No...**

 **Ashley: What r u waiting for? Him to drive u all the way from TX to Cali for school?**

 **Lilith: I don't kno how to bring it up.**

 **Ashley: "Just do it" - Nike**

 **Lilith: It's not that easy.**

 **Ashley: The most he can say is no & since u officially became an adult today u have the power to do what u want.**

 **Lilith: If he kicks me out of the house, I hope ur door is open.**

 **Ashley: My door is always open. I hope everything goes well & I can finally meet u in person.**

 **Lilith: I'm worried about how I'll be received. You know with the whole nepotism thing.**

 **Ashley: Eh, that "Charlotte wouldn't be there if she wasn't Ric Flair's daughter" thing got to me for a while but I just worked harder to prove myself. The Flair thing is still getting thrown at me but no one can say I don't belong there. Also, you're beautiful and don't look like your father in drag like I did so you won't get the additional hate I got because of my looks and body thrown at u.**

 **Lilith: Oh, Ashley. You're gorgeous.**

 **Ashley: Yea & it only took me 10000000001 visits to the plastic surgeon's office. LMAO.**

 **Lilith: Stop! Lol.**

* * *

Lilith's mom zoomed the camera to a gigantic birthday cake with 18 candles. Lily came into the shot and blew all the candles out.

"Valedictorian of your class, a full ride scholarship to USC and now I finally get to see you as an adult," her father sounded a little emotional when he said it. "I am so proud of you, Lily."

"Thanks, Dad," Lily managed to give him a nervous smile.

"I'm going to go out to the pit and check on the meat so we can finally eat," he squeezed her hand before standing to his feet.

Her mother gave her a stern look. "If you don't tell him, I will."

"It'll be about ten minutes," he returned and joined them again at the table. "Where did the summer go? Freshman orientation is right around the corner. I got some free time next week, do you want to fly to Cali to check out the campus before it gets overcrowded by thousands of other kids?"

Lily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Here it was, it was now or never. She knew this was going to begin the hardest conversation of her young life. "I don't want to go to USC."

He raised a brow. "Why not? Did you hear something negative about the school? It doesn't matter, you got scholarships to LSU, the University of Miami, Texas A&M and Alabama as well. Cutting it close but I don't think it's too late to get you registered."

Lilith shook her head, "No, Daddy, I don't want to go to college at all."

He looked taken aback, a bit stunned. "What do you plan on doing with your life then?"

"The same thing you did with yours," her heart raced and she was a mess of nerves but it was out there now and she couldn't take it back.

"Lily, what are you-" he stopped mid sentence and it looked like he realized what she was getting at. "If you're thinking what I think you are, get it out of your head right now."

"Shawn..." her mom sighed. That's right, Lilith's father was the Heartbreak Kid himself, Shawn Michaels.

"Wait, did you know she was planning on pulling this bullshit?" he lashed out at his wife. This caused Lily to jump. She knew he was upset now. Him being a born again Christian rarely cursed. "You should've been the one to shut her down when she came to you with it. You were around back in my prime. You know everything the business has put me through. When you got pregnant with her I told you from Day 1 that I wanted her nowhere near the business. I never even took her to a show because I wanted her with absolutely no connection to wrestling."

"Why do you hate the business that made you? The business that paid for this house we're sitting in," Lilith countered him.

"Hate? Hate? Hate? Hate? Hate?!" the word kept getting repeated, louder and louder, and more insistently. "It's the opposite, Lily. I love the business. I eat, sleep and breathe the business. If I didn't respect Taker and the fact that he retired me, I'd be back in the ring today if they called me, brittle bones and all. The only thing I hate is the thought of you in the business."

"Daddy, the business is much different than in your prime. People aren't pill popping, coke snorting and having wild orgies backstage anymore," she tried to reason with him.

"They may not be but it's still a cutthroat industry and I don't want you exposed to it," Shawn replied.

"I'm pretty sure Ric Flair's heyday was much wilder than yours and he allowed Ashley to become apart of it. Look at her now, on track to become the GOAT female WWE superstar."

"Ashley was 26 years old when she signed. At that age he couldn't stop her from doing shit. She was a mature woman, lived her youth and knew for sure that that was the life she wanted. You were still a child less than 24 hours ago. What kind of father would I be if I let my little girl step into that world?"

"One who raised me right and trusted me to make the right decisions regardless of where I am or who or what I'm surrounded by," she declared fiercely.

"I absolutely agree," her mom replied.

"You don't know the first thing about wrestling," Shawn's eyes narrowed.

"Even though you didn't take me to any shows, I was home watching every match you were in. I cried when you retired, not only because you retired but because you didn't take me. You didn't even take me to your hall of fame ceremony. Even when you left, I've never missed a single Raw, Smackdown or pay per view. I love this business too and my life will not be complete until I step into a WWE ring," Lily said with confidence.

"Step into a WWE ring?" he scoffed. "You think it's just that easy, huh? It would take you years of training to become passable enough to step into the ring and just passable isn't good enough for any child of mine. You'd be begging USC to take you in after your first bump."

"Daddy, I took my first bump 2 years ago," she revealed.

"What?"

"Do you know that guy you've been paying to tutor me for a few hours after school?"

"Mr. Preston? What does he have to do with this?"

"His name is Ritter and he's an indie guy with his own wrestling school. That's what I've been studying the last 2 years."

Shawn looked betrayed and turned his gaze on his wife who just shrugged. "I can't believe what you're telling me. I guess this is why you wanted to go to this guy instead of school appointed tutors."

"So what are we going to do, Shawn?" her mom asked.

"Why is it _'we'_ now because it looks like the two of you have been sneaking behind my back for at least two years doing what the hell you wanted. _I'm_ going to go outside and turn off the grill so my house won't burn down. Then _I'm_ going to bed. On August 15th, _I'm_ going to pack up Lily's shit and drive her to USC for freshman move in day and I don't want to hear any more talk about wrestling."

Lily shook her head. "If you do that it'll be a waste of gas and money because I will walk off campus and walk into the closest indy promotion. And they'll take me as soon as they hear my last name."

"First of all, your last name is Hickenbottom. The _fictional_ last name Michaels isn't relevant to you. Second, without any money or a place to live?" he snorted. "I'd love to see it."

"Oh I'm sure some guy would be happy to take poor little Lily _Hickenbottom_ in...rent free," she challenged with a smirk.

"Shawn, if she's dead set on doing it regardless of what you say, I think it'd be better if she went to a safe environment if you know what I mean..."

Shawn was obviously struggling to make a decision but he eventually pulled out his phone. "Hunter, it's Shawn…"

* * *

Lily took a snap of the name on the building in front of her that read _WWE Performance Center_.

"Dad, there are some nice apartments right around the corner. We should go check them out when we leave here," she said.

Shawn rolled his eyes as he opened the door for her and his wife. "You need to decide whether or not you really want to do this before we get into apartment hunting."

"I'm already sold," she said looking around the building.

Shawn stopped an office door and knocked. He didn't wait for an answer before opening it. His fellow Kliq and DX stablemate and bestfriend, Triple H was seated behind a desk. He stood to greet them. Lily knew him well from all the holiday visits and family vacations they'd taken together. He was actually her godfather.

"Where's my money? A bet is a bet," Hunter laughed, embracing Shawn. "I told you back when you said you weren't going to introduce her to wrestling that this day would come. Everyone knows the more you keep something from a child, the more they want it. Had you brought her around all these years she'd be using your credit card to buy makeup, new clothes and dorm decorations right now."

"I knew it too," her mom chuckled. "I'd catch her sneaking to watch it knowing how her father felt. She told me when she was 14 that this is what she wanted to do with her life. I thought she'd eventually grow out of it but here we are."

Hunter turned her attention to Lily. "Your father told me that you've been training."

"So she claims," Shawn grumbled.

"Claims?" Lily raised the sleeve on her shirt to reveal a bruise on her shoulder. "Do you see this? That's dedication. I may not be the best but on a scale from 1 to 10, I'm at least a 6."

"6?" Shawn snorted. "That's mighty generous to say considering you've only been training for 2 years."

"Have you ever had a match?" Hunter asked.

"With the trainers and against other wrestlers in training, yes," she replied.

Shawn shook his head in disbelief. "You mean to tell me you haven't had a real match yet and you're giving yourself a 6? For all you know you could be a 2 once you step in the ring with an outside opponent. Do you really think those people from your wrestling school are going to tell the daughter of Shawn Michaels that she sucks."

Lily's feelings were hurt and she looked close to tears.

"Shawn!" her mom yelled and placed a consoling arm around Lily's shoulders.

"You don't have to put the girl down just because you aren't happy with her decision, Shawn," Hunter scolded. He too gave her a consoling pat on the back. "Look, how about I put you in the ring with the best female wrestler in the industry today.

"Hunter, you are not putting my daughter in the ring," Shawn growled.

Lily decided to put her foot down. "Dad, I did not come all the way to Orlando just to go back to Texas and pout. I'm 18 and this is what I want to do. You can either support me on this journey or you can walk back to the car. Either way, it's happening. Hunter, where can I change?"

Lily came out of the bathroom five minutes later wearing a t-shirt, gym shorts, knee pads and wrestling boots. She saw her father grimace at the sight of her because he knew it was real.

Hunter walked her them out to the practice rings. Guys were in most of them but in the corner there was a ring consisting of 3 girls. There was a Latina sitting on the apron observing. Lily recognized her as Marina Diaz, a high flying master. In the ring two girls were training. A tall blonde who she identified as Sadie. The third was an exotic looking brunette, Della Stone who seemed to be walking Sadie through a few moves.

"If Della can't get a good showing out of Lily, you may have a point Shawn," Hunter said.

"Isn't that Della girl kind of stiff?" Shawn looked worried. "My baby already has a nasty bruise, she doesn't need more."

"Yeah, Della is stiff but she's a professional...in the ring at least. She can adapt to any style and bring out the best in anyone. That girl she's in the ring with now was a supermodel who'd never set foot in a ring before signing. Now Sadie is capable of having an okay match depending on who her opponent is," Hunter explained.

As they walked through the different practice rings, Lily noticed the looks of admiration her father drew from the other NXT performers as they walked. She knew her father was iconic and influenced a generation including some of the biggest wrestlers of today. It made her swell with pride to be able to carry his legacy. They kept straight until they reached the ring where the women were.

"Della," Hunter called out.

"Huh?" Della whipped around. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of Shawn. She scrambled over to shake his hand. "I am so honored to meet you, Mr. Michaels. I don't know many in this business today who can say they weren't a fan of yours."

Even though Shawn was pissed, Lily knew he wouldn't miss an opportunity to suck in praise like the narcissist he is. He smiled. "Mr. Michaels is my father; call me Shawn."

"What brings you down here today, Shawn? Not that you need a reason," Della inquired.

"I'm here with my daughter," he replied and Della finally noticed Lily for the first time. Della moved over to where Lily was standing and extended her head. "Hey, I'm Della Stone."

Lily didn't hesitate to meet her hand. She'd read all about backstage etiquette. She knew that it was common courtesy to greet everyone they crossed paths with with a handshake. "I'm Lilith. I've been watching your work for years and I'm a big fan."

"You watch indie wrestling?" Shawn's brow knitted.

"I love wrestling in general, not just WWE wrestling, Dad," Lily replied.

"My kind of girl," Della smirked.

Hunter cleared his throat. "Lily has been training for a little while, Della, and we want to see what she's got."

"Okay," Della said pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Let's go."

Lily followed suit and tied her shoulder length blonde hair into a bun. She turned around and looked at her father who appeared to be breaking out into a nervous sweat already.

"Y'all ready?" Marina asked and they both nodded. She rung the bell to signal the start of the match.

Lily locked up with Della. She wasn't nearly as strong so it didn't take much for her to be pushed down to the canvas. They locked up again with the same result. She looked over at her father and he was shaking his head. For the third time they locked up and Lily found herself using every ounce of strength she had to push Della back a few steps.

Della Irish whipped Lily hard into the turnbuckle. It knocked the wind out of her and she fell down to the mat. She had to remind herself that Della was not one of her trainers or peers at the wrestling school. She was not taking it easy on her. Della was on her in a second, driving her knee into Lily's back to keep her down on the canvas.

"What you gonna do, HBK's K?" Della taunted.

"HBK's K?" Hunter chuckled. "I like that."

Lily battled to her feet and elbowed Della to the face.

"Okay," Della nodded at Marina as if she was impressed. "We may be cooking with gas now. Let's see what you got."

This was Lily's chance. She ran the ropes and was charging full speed towards Della but found herself being tripped and falling into the ropes on the other side of the ring.

"That's enough," Shawn yelled out, sounding embarrassed. "Let's go before you get hurt out there. That girl is not taking it easy on you."

"Actually, she is," Hunter replied.

"No, I'm not leaving this ring!" Lily proclaimed, standing back to her feet. She walked back over to Della. "Stop toying with me. I'm ready to have a match."

They locked up and worked their way to the ropes where Della twisted Lily's arm. Lily tried to reverse but couldn't. Della then threw a headlock to try and ground Lily. Lily tried to escape the headlock but Della continued to hang on. Lily eventually powered out and threw a headlock of her own. Della shot Lily into the ropes but Lily took Della down with a shoulder block. Della tried to clothesline but it was countered. After a series of counters they were at a standoff to applause. Lily didn't even notice that a crowd of NXT performers had gathering but now that she was aware, the pressure was really on.

Della went behind Lily to execute a snap dragon suplex. While Lily was down on the canvas, Della went for the pin but instead of a traditional pin, she puts her boot on Lily's chest.

"Della!" Marina hissed.

"Just count it," Della hissed back.

Marina sighed and slid down to the canvas to begin the count. 1…2…Lily kicked out.

Lily tried to elbow Della but Della rammed Lily's head into the top of the turnbuckle pad repetitively and threw some forearms of her own. The blows were stiff and Lily found herself sinking down into the corner.

"What's wrong? Daddy's little girl can't hang?" Della asked, turning her back.

Lily took this opportunity to get into position. When Della turned around to face her again, she executed her father's legendary move, the super kick. Unlike her father, she didn't need to slap her thigh in order for it to sound off. She heard hisses from the crowd. The kick connected hard into Della's jaw. Della fell to the ground and groaned holding her mouth.

"Oh shoot," Lily crawled over to Della. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Della sat up and spit out a thick wad of bloody spit. She wiped her mouth with her forearm. She stared Lily square in the eyes and removed a pair of imaginary gloves. "Let's kick it up a notch."

"Hunter! We've seen all we needed to see," Shawn said. "Lily, I get it. You're passable. It's time to go."

"Yeah, run along little girl," Della smirk. "We have enough over pushed blondes at the top. The last thing we need is another and with a last name like Michaels at that. You may get pushed harder than Charlotte. Are you glaring at me Shawn or something over there? I can't really tell with that wonky eye."

Lily shoved Della and Della shoved her back harder. Lily was crying with tears streaming down her face as she fought Della with forearm shots but Della cut her off and put Lily in a front facelock. Lily tried to hit a neckbreaker but Della reversed it into a neckbreaker of her own. Lily fired up with forearms and then hit a flying forearm that took Della down to applause from those standing around the ring.

Della stood and charged at Lily but Lily dropkicked her. Della tried to comeback but Lily back elbowed her.

"Enough is enough," Della sighed, snatching Lily into a sleeper hold. Lily began struggling to escape but it was no use. Della's hold felt like it was tightening. Lily felt like her eyes were bulging out as Della applied pressure to her neck. She felt light headed. She tried one more time to break free but her body was slowly going limp and she was slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was Della's mouth next to her ear. "Shhh…shhh. Just go to sleep."

Lily regained consciousness but her eyes remained closed. She felt her body being laid down flat on the mat. She heard footsteps around her.

"What the hell was that?" Shawn yelled at Della. "I thought you said she was professional, Hunter? Professional, my ass! And how dare she speak to and handle my daughter the way she did. It was plain disrespectful."

"With all due respect, Shawn, I-" Della began but was quickly interrupted.

"That's Mr. Michaels," he snapped.

Della sighed. " _Mr. Michaels,_ you were one of the greatest heels of all time but you couldn't recognize that I was working heel just now? It hasn't been _that_ long since you retired, it hasn't even been ten years yet. I didn't mean any of that I said to her and I apologize for talking about your eye. She started the match all timid and scared and I didn't have time for that shit so I did what I had to do to pull some fire out of her and hey, it worked."

Lily's eyes popped open. "You really didn't mean it?"

"No! I didn't. And you're better than passable. You're pretty good. You're rough around the edges and you need to work on your technique but other than that I'll rate you a solid 6," Della said and Lily smiled up smugly at her father. "I enjoyed working with you."

"Are you ready to step into my office, Shawn?" Hunter asked.

Shawn reluctantly nodded. "Come on, Lily."

"No, let Lily stay out here and get to know her peers," Hunter said, escorting Shawn out of the ring.

"Hey, Della?" Shawn called over his shoulder. "I guess you can call me Shawn again."

"Okay, _Shawn_ ," Della laughed.

The crowd of other NXT performers slowly dissembled. Lily was left sitting in the ring with Della, Marina and Sadie.

"You have your dad's hair," Sadie commented.

"Eww, that is not a compliment," Lily chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, not now but from back in the day when it was full and bouncy," Sadie clarified.

"Thanks," Lily smiled.

"My mind is blown because I didn't even know Shawn had a daughter," Marina said.

"Me either but then again, he doesn't really post about his personal life a lot. You must don't have social media?" Della asked.

"I do but I'm Lily Hickenbottom. Not a lot of people associate my father with his government last name so they don't make the connection," Lily chuckled.

"Well you're Lily Michaels now," Della replied.

"I am, aren't I," Lily grinned.

 **Lily: It's a done deal.**

 **Ashley: Really?**

 **Lily: I am officially in the door.**

 **Ashely: Awesome!**

"It's crazy because you're walking in the door with two readymade feuds. Shawn retired Ric Flair so you that sets up you vs Charlotte and let's not forget the Montreal screwjob which sets up you vs Nattie. The possibilities are endless," Della concluded.

"Also, Ric was a Horseman so when Charlotte came along she became part of the Horsewomen. If you ever decide to form a female Kliq, we're available," Marina held up the two sweet gesture and Lily met her with a two sweet of her own.

"I've had enough of the ring today," Della said, sliding out. "I just had a whole impromptu match. Like, what the fuck? Marina and I are getting ready to go on the road with Raw for a little while to feud with Sasha and Bayley, I should be preserving myself if we're gonna have to do that tough schedule, houseshows and all."

"Aww, you're leaving when I arrive?" Lily pouted.

"Don't worry, you'll still have me," Sadie assured her.

"Cool," Lily replied.

"Here comes Creeper Smile," Marina mumbled. "What's he doing down here?"

Creeper Smile? Lily looked around and the only person in sight was Finn Balor. Now that she thought about it, his wide smile was a little creepy but it was beautiful nonetheless….just like the rest of him. He had the most flawless man skin she'd ever seen; it was smooth in texture, creamy in color. His strong jaw line and his deep set blue-gray eyes gave him a powerful appeal. He wasn't a skyscraper in height but if the budge he displayed in the right was an indicator, she knew where the extra inches went. His body was incredibly fit and the tight white t-shirt he wore clung to his abs.

"Probably on again with Cathy," Della replied.

"If a relationship goes on and off every few weeks, it's totally not worth it," Sadie added.

"Who is Cathy?" Lily asked.

"She's kind of like an on-air personality, I guess," Della began. "She does a lot of backstage interviews and stuff on WWE's website and Facebook."

"Ladies," he called out as he approached. His Irish accent was strong.

"Countdown to creeper smile in 5…4…3…2…" Marina counted down and he smiled wide on cue.

"What's up, Devitt," Della greeted him.

"I heard a rumor that you two were coming up to Raw," he said.

"Technically, we're not coming up but it's true that we'll be on Raw for a little while," Marina replied.

His eyes locked on her and she felt her heart flutter. She could tell he was checking her out but he didn't make it obvious. "Who is this?"

"I'm Lilith," she said quietly, extending a shaky hand. He took it.

"Lilith," he tilted his head. He appeared to be in deep thought as he held her hand for an excruciatingly long time. "Female demon who is sexually wanton and steals babies in the darkness."

"Damn, bitch," Della whispered. "Totally judging your parents right now."

"Ugh, yeah, you should probably just call me Lily," she replied awkwardly.

"I liked Lilith better," he smiled and in this context, his smile really was creepy. "Can I have my hand back now?"

"Oh, right," he looked down at their locked hands before disconnecting. "I'll see you around, ladies…and Lilith," he winked before walking away.

"How old are you anyway?" Marina asked.

"I turned 18 yesterday," Lily replied.

"18? Lily, that man is wayyy too old for you. Hell, he may be too old for me and I'm 26!" Della laughed. "So wipe that goofy smile off of your face for god's sakes!"

"How old is he?" Lily raised a brow.

"He'll 37 in a few days!" Della replied.

"What?" Lily gasped. "He does not look that old. I'd give him 30."

"And that's still too old for you," Marina chuckled. "I bet you're still a virgin."

Lily blushed and looked away. "I am."

"Oh, honey," Sadie shook her head. "You definitely don't want him then if the rumors are true. He'd tear you apart."

"It has to be true, I've been hearing about his _business_ since I was 18 myself," Della replied.

"Shit, just ask Cathy. I'm sure she'll be happy to confirm it," Marina snorted.

* * *

Finn snuck up behind Cathy in her office. She jumped and tried to close the window on the screen but it was too late. "Stalking my IG comments again, eh?"

"Just curious," she shrugged. "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting," he replied.

They'd been together for some time, off and on. This was his most public relationship. Throughout the indies, he tried his hardest to keep his personal life…personal. He was so private that fans used to speculate his sexuality which is ironic now considering his work with his LGBT targeted Balor Club for All campaign. His relationship with Cathy began in the social media driven era so they'd been spotted together on numerous occasions and fans began putting two and two together. She'd visited his parents back in Ireland with him and he officially went public with her when he took her as his date to the HOF. They broke up shortly after only to get back together again. He realized early on that Cathy loved the attention she got from it, both negative and positive. She was a nice girl but one thing he didn't like about her was that she cared too much about what people thought. He didn't.

A guy holding a camera knocked on the door. "Cathy, we'll be ready to film your segment in five."

"Okay, I'll be ready," Cathy replied. She stood and gave Finn a kiss. She pulled back and smiled. "I will see you later."

Finn met Shawn in the hallway. He's went on the recorded multiple times citing Shawn as the greatest and Michaels in return has praised him.

"Balor."

"Shawn," Finn shook his hand. "What's the occasion?"

"I brought my daughter here for a tour," Shawn replied.

"You have a daughter?" Finn raised a brow.

"Yeah, here she comes now," Shawn said, looking behind Finn.

Finn turned around and saw the beautiful blonde from earlier shyly waving. _Shit_. His phone rung, giving him the perfect excuse to run away.

* * *

 **Alright guys...Chapter 1 over.**


	2. Lily, Just Lily

"Do you really have to make such a big deal out of my signing?" Lily asked Hunter.

"I don't have to _make_ it a big deal. The daughter of Shawn Michaels signing _is_ a big deal," he replied.

Lily spent the day subjected to a photo shoot with her father and a sit down interview together.

She found it funny how he was against her signing but was hamming it up for the cameras.

Cathy entered the room to conduct the interview. Finn's apparent on and off girlfriend. She was pretty enough with brown hair that had a few gold highlights, dark brown eyes and what Lily considered a nice body. She looked preoccupied with her phone until the camera crew was ready to shoot.

"It is my privilege to be sitting here today with arguably the greatest superstar of all time, Shawn Michaels and WWE's newest signee, Lilith Michaels," Cathy introduced them. "Lily, what was it like growing up as the daughter of Shawn Michaels?"

"Normal," Lily simply answered. There was really nothing more she could say. She didn't have the normal wrestler's offspring upbringing where they went backstage to shows, met other wrestlers and their families, traveled with their father, etc. At home he was just the average dad, no facades, none of the glitz and glam. She wished she could give a cool answer but she couldn't.

"Oh, okay," Cathy looked confused and unsure of how to react to the short answer so she turned her attention to Shawn. "Shawn, how do you feel about Lily following in your footsteps."

"It's been eight years since I retired. Truthfully, I miss interacting with the people and the boys in the back and all that kind of stuff. Wrestling is the kind of business that once it gets in your blood, it's tough to get it out. I still want to be part of the business. Of course, I'm not going to be a showstopper with these brittle bones. I'm not going to be your main-event guy or your headline guy. I still have a little something to offer to the business and that something just happened to be my daughter," Shawn stated, reaching over to grab Lily's hand. Lily felt herself becoming emotional. "I always knew my Lily would be something special. This business is in her blood so it was no surprise when she came to me to 2 years ago and said-"

"Really, Dad?" Lily muttered. She looked at Cathy. "Are we live?"

"No, they're planning on doing a press release next week to announce your signing with the photoshoot and this interview," Cathy informed.

"Good," Lily sighed. "Can we take a break?"

"Uh, sure," Cathy said, walking away with her head down on her phone.

"What's the matter with you?" Shawn asked, raising his voice as he pulled Lily to the side. "This is what you wanted, now you have it but once the camera starts rolling you act like an uncooperative brat?"

"I'm not the only one who changed once the camera came around," Lily shot back. "Your opening statement was perfect and then you went into me coming to you? Really? I remember things going a lot differently. You should've quit while you were ahead. I'm not okay with lying and I'm not okay sitting back listening to you lie."

Shawn's chest rose and fell with a frustrated huff. "Wrestling is all about selling a story. Exaggerating the truth is a part of the game. If you knew wrestling like you claim, you'd know that too."

"I'm well aware of that but honestly, Dad, I think you being against me signing would be a better story to sell. Do you know how many legends and their children have put on the same _'wrestling is in his/her blood'_ song and dance? There's nothing we can say here that Ric and Ashley haven't already said 2 years ago and they were authentic. Let's break the cycle," she pleaded.

"Do you know how bad that's going to come across? Me being against my daughter joining the business that has given me everything?" he argued.

"Just repeat what you told me that first night! It was genuine and I believed you loved the business but loved me more. Do you know how many actors, actresses and athletes have publicly said they didn't want their children to follow in their footsteps? I don't recall their fans chasing them with pitchforks and torches and I don't think yours will either," Lily said.

"You obviously don't know wrestling fans," Shawn snorted. "I don't know, Lily. We'll figure something out."

"What's there to figure out?" Lily countered.

"I don't know what you two are trying to figure out but I've figured out when you'll debut," Hunter said, walking up behind them.

"Omg, when?" Lily's annoyance with her father was quickly replaced with excited anticipation.

"October's all women's pay per view, Evolution against Natalya," Hunter revealed.

"But why?" Lily's face dropped. "How does it look on a night dedicated to empowering women to rehash a feud older than me with 2 decrepit old men standing in our corners."

"Decrepit?! I know not me! You must be referring to Bret and even then, you watch your mouth and show some respect, young lady!" Shawn snapped.

"Sorry," Lily bit out. "It's just...I want to be more than Shawn Michaels' daughter. Sure Charlotte is 'the queen' but from the wooos, to the robe, to the theme to the figure four, she's Ric Flair's daughter. I want my own identity. I don't want to rehash your feuds. I don't want my finisher to be the Superkick. I definitely don't want to be put in the studio to sing _'I'm just a sexy girl, I'm not your Barbie doll._ '"

"It sounds as if you're embarrassed of who you came from," Shawn said, looking and sounding insulted.

"If I was embarrassed of who I came from, I'd be at USC introducing you to my roommate as Michael S. Hickenbottom," Lily pointed out.

"Well, what is your vision for your character?" Hunter inquired.

"Um, I haven't even thought about it yet," she confessed. Lily never thought she'd actually get this far.

"2 years of sneaking around and you have no character arc to show for it?" Shawn scoffed. "You certainly acted like you had everything all figured out."

"How about we try it our way for a while and you can gradually become the person you want to be?" Hunter proposed.

Lily sighed. "If we're going to do the Shawn Michaels' daughter thing and the Natalya feud, I want to do it my way."

"And what's your way?" Shawn raised a brow.

"I want to take it old school before the days of wrestling forums, social media and insiders spoiling everything," Lily's blue eyes were gleaming with determination. "Dad, maybe you never bringing me around can work to my advantage."

"I think I know what you're getting at," Hunter nodded. "We're going to need a lot of NDAs in order to pull this off though."

* * *

 **Lily: As of right you don't know me or anything about my origin.**

 **Ashley: Huh?**

 **Lily: I'll explain everything later.**

Everyone who was around the ring to witness the practice match against Della Stone were made to sign non-disclosure agreements. If they mentioned anything about Lily being associated with Shawn, they'd be fired and made to pay a fine of 50,000. Most of them being former independent wrestlers and now NXT wrestlers, they didn't have that money to spare. Shawn made a hefty donation to her former wrestling school in addition to the NDAs in order for them to keep quiet.

"What about the kids from your high school?" Hunter asked.

"I went to a preppy, rich kid school. Wrestling is too low brow, no offense, for them to give a second glance. They don't know who or what a Shawn Michaels is. My dad was just Mr. Hickenbottom to them. I think I'm safe. I've already changed the name on all of my social media from Lily Hickenbottom to just Lily. We're good to go," Lily replied.

"They're always complaining about things being predictable but they're going to go crazy not knowing where we're going with this. They're so used to Meltzer and dirt sheets spoiling angles weeks in advance," Hunter chuckled. "You're going to Jacksonville tomorrow for Raw. Do I need to remind you why you can't tell anyone backstage about this angle?"

"You've told me a million times, I think I got it now. Because they have outsider friends and family, are friends with wrestlers in other companies and some leak stuff to Meltzer," she said.

"Precisely," Hunter nodded.

* * *

"Are you sure you can handle this alone?" Shawn was worried as he loaded her bags into her car. "You've never even driven outside of San Antonio and now you're going to drive two hours from Orlando to Jacksonville? I think I'm going to trail you."

"I know back in '98 you guys had to spread maps across the dashboard to get from city to city but in 2018, we have this thing called GPS and Google Maps," Lily flashed her phone. "You can't be seen anywhere near me, Dad."

"I'm not going to be anywhere near you. I can follow you there and hang around backstage talking to some of the guys," he said.

"That's going to blow the entire operation. Shawn Michaels randomly shows up backstage and not in San Antonio where he lives, in Jacksonville on the same night a mysterious blonde debuts to feud with Natalya, Bret's niece. _Wait a minute, she has Shawn's eyes_!" Lily gasped dramatically.

"You're right," he sighed, rubbing his temple. "I guess this is how I would've felt dropping you off in front of your dorm room. I'm still not 100% okay with this decision but...I'm proud of you already."

"Aww, Dad!" Lily walked up to him to give him a hug and he smooths her hair down on her head. She pulled back. "I need to hit the road now if I want to leave time for fast food stops, bathroom breaks and backed up traffic."

* * *

Hunter asked Lily to come to the arena early. The only people there when she arrived were the ring and production crew, backstage personnel and the broadcast team. She hadn't spotted any wrestlers yet. She seated herself in his office and waited. He was giving her a pep talk an hour later when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he invited.

Natalya entered still dressed in her street clothes. A pair of jeans and heels. She raised a confused brow when she saw Lily sitting in front of Hunter's desk. "You sent for me?"

"Yes, I'd like you to meet Lily," he introduced.

Nattie looked between H and Lily before extending her hand. "Uhm, hi. Natalya."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Lily smiled courteously and met her hand.

"What is this about?" Natalya was still looking at Lily but addressed Hunter.

"Nattie, I know you're supposed to be accompanying Ronda to the ring tonight for her match vs Alicia but we're giving Lily a tryout match and since she's a hometown girl here, we want it to happen live. It'll only be 5 minutes."

"Does it have to be me?" Nattie asked, sullenly. Lily didn't take offense. Who'd want to miss a spot in a Ronda Rousey segment to give some rookie a shot.

"Yes, Bayley and Sasha are booked with Della and Marina, Ronda and Alicia are obviously booked, Alexa is booked, Ruby is injured and the other Riott Squad members can't carry a match the way a veteran such as yourself can," H replied.

"You forgot to mention Dana Brooke," Nattie said.

"That'll be the blind leading the blind," Hunter snorted.

"Uhhh, Mickie James? She's actually more of a veteran than me."

"I'm asking _you_ , Nattie," Hunter insisted firmly.

"Okay," Nattie relented with a sigh before turning to Lily. "How experienced are you?"

"I-" Lily started.

"She wrestled two years in Mexico as a masked performer," Hunter quickly took over.

"Oh," Nattie blinked. They went on to talk about their wrestling styles and lay out the match with H's input.

Nattie left and the next knock came from Della and Marina. They were currently in a storyline against Sasha and Bayley.

"Hey, it's you! Damn and I thought they brought us up quick," Della laughed, looking around. "Where's Shawn, Mr. Michaels or whatever he wants to be called today?"

"About that," Hunter said, sliding two NDAs forward.

Marina skimmed the document in front of her before looking up. "Is this really necessary? Neither of us are Chatty Patty types."

"I actually forgot she existed until we walked in here," Della added.

"Oh thanks," Lily mumbled, somewhat sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Lily," Della replied before turning back to H. "The point is, I know how to keep a secret."

"She sure does," Marina snorted as if there was some meaning behind it and it was judging by the glare Della shot her way.

"I'm sure you do, Della but I have to do what I have to do to protect this angle," Hunter replied, pulling out two pens.

"Fine," Marina sighed, picking up a pen and putting it to the paper until Della slapped it away.

"Don't sign anything until I have my lawyer look over it," Della said, taking pictures of the document. "I'm not saying I don't trust you, H, but I have to do what I have to do to protect myself."

"Sure, go ahead, I have nothing to hide," he shrugged.

Della sent those photos to her lawyer and got a response 20 minutes later. She looked at Marina. "I guess we can sign now."

"Is she done so we can show this stranger whom we don't know and have met before around?" Marina asked.

"Yeah, I'm finished. You can head to the locker room. I have some business to take of before showtime anyway. Lily," he called out, giving a look of warning. "Be careful."

"How's your shoulder?" Lily asked Della, noticing the sling. She read on the dirt sheet that Della injured her shoulder at a house show last weekend.

"It's doing a lot better. There's still some pain depending on how I move it but I'm a big girl. They don't want me back in the ring until Summerslam but honestly, I can get in there tonight if they let me," Della replied.

"So what's this angle that's so important we're signing non-disclosures and stuff?" Marina questioned.

"I don't know all the details yet but I know I'm slowly starting a feud with Nattie that'll lead to a match at Evolution," Lily replied.

"Uh oh, fresh meat has found _fresher_ meat," a guy hissed. Lily hadn't noticed male wrestlers staring at her as they walked around backstage until she heard that. She was always beautiful so she'd gotten used to men watching. Over time she learned to get comfortable ignoring the attention.

"Oh my god, it's…" Lily trailed off, trying not to sound like a fangirl. She tried to look casual as Roman Reigns walked down the hall that they walked up. He was intimidatingly huge and really, really handsome in person.

The first hand he grabbed was Della's. She hissed and he dropped it. His eyes got big as he gently reached out to touch her shoulder. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Sometimes I forget my own strength."

"It's okay," she told him calmly.

He moved on to Marina. She gave him a limp handshake and grunted a hello. When he moved on to Lily, he looked over at Della and Marina for an explanation or introduction but they said nothing so Lily took it upon herself to speak.

"Hey, I'm Lily and I'm new," she said, reaching out her hand.

His hands were surprisingly soft and large as they swallowed hers. His grip was also strong and firm as they shook so she understood how that could be harsh on someone in Della's condition. "Are you from NXT or…?"

"I'm a local performer," she said.

"Oh, welcome to Raw," he said before leaving them.

"Thanks," she called behind him. "He is so gorgeous."

"He's too old for you, also," Della quickly said.

"Too _married_ also," Marina emphasized.

"Well, yeah, that too," Della added. She stopped right before they approached the door that read: _Raw female talent_. "When we get in here we can't act too chummy with you because the others will start asking us questions that we legally can't answer."

"Yeah, I understand," Lily nodded.

Marina opened the door and Lily heard female voices speaking.

"She's a young, pretty thing so maybe that's why they're giving her airtime because every tryout match that I've seen has happened before the show or in a dark match after," Nattie shrugged.

"If she's blonde with B-cups, I found herrrrr," Della sung, stepping out of the way to reveal Lily.

Lily scanned around the locker room to find herself being watched, no, assessed is more appropriate. She got scrutinizing looks a person being sized up would receive. It unnerved her slightly because these were the women she'd have to be around and work with in the coming months and all of their expressions ranged from indifference to confusion to annoyance. She wondered how her reception would've been if she walked in as Shawn Michaels' daughter.

"I don't mean any harm but your role here tonight is a local jobber?" Alexa tilted her head.

"Yes, well, no. It's a tryout match," Lily criped.

"Either way, this locker room is for Raw women only," Alexa replied. "There's a separate changing area down the hall for extras, jobbers and enhancement talent."

"Oh," Lily dropped her head. "I guess I'll go…"

"No, you won't," Della spoke up. "I'm not sure but when we were passing, didn't Triple H send you here which is why you followed us?"

"Yes," Lily confirmed with a nod, gaining a little bit of confidence. "He sure did."

As Lily dressed for her segment, she felt stares, knowing she was being monitored as the others tried to figure her out. Her ring attire was black leather, assless chaps with short red spandex shorts that exposed half of her butt paired with a studded black and red leather bra top that stopped right above her belly button.

Hunter's eyes widened when he caught sight of Lily as she stretched in an isolated corner backstage. "Shawn is going to kill you and then kill me for allowing you to go out there dressed like that!"

"He wore chaps," Lily laughed.

"He did but he wasn't as... _shapely_ ," Hunter snorted. "You have about 30 minutes before your match. You go on right after Balor. Are you ready?"

Lily took a deep breath, needing a moment to psych herself up to officially step into the wrestling world for the very first time. She was nervous but there was no turning back now. The small percentage of herself that wasn't nervous felt a thrill of anticipation.

* * *

Finn warmed up before his match in the locker room. Sometimes he felt that he was just going through the motions now that he was on the main roster. It was frustrating compared to his prominent career on the independent scene but when his theme hit and he heard his guaranteed pop and saw his fans raising their arms to the sky along with him, he knew this is where he belonged. He loved being in the ring regardless of the outcome or storyline.

"Am I the only one who saw that hot blonde out there with the tight ass?" Dolph asked. "This needs to be discussed."

"Who is she?" Zack Ryder asked.

"I don't know but she was with Della and Marina," Dolph replied.

"Della and Marina? Rollins, don't they ride with you?" Elias raised a brow.

"Yeah, but I didn't hear them talk about any new girl nor did I see one," Rollins said.

"I saw her," Roman spoke up as he slid his glove up his hand. "She looks a little too young for me to give a second glance."

"Only in the face," Dolph muttered.

Finn didn't really pay attention to what they were saying. Sometimes the locker room reminded him of a fraternity full of egotistical 30 plus year old men the way they carried on. Chances were this new blonde wasn't that hot. A nice ass or a decent set of implants was enough to get overrated in the looks department here.

A producer knocked and stuck his head through the door. "Balor, you're next after this commercial."

As he was walking to gorilla, he spotted the ass Dolph was referring to and he had to admit it was very nice indeed. It wasn't too big or too small, aggressively round with the right amount of plumpness. The chaps she wore really highlighted it. Finn forced his eyes away because his trunks showed enough flaccid.

The blonde glanced around before her gaze settled on him, a smile of recognition crossed her face. "Hey!"

"Well I'll be damned," Finn said out loud to himself. He was confused two weeks ago when he found out that Shawn a daughter, a _hot_ daughter. She was beautiful. Tonight she managed to look better than before. Unfortunately, her being Shawn's daughter meant she was off limits but still he found himself interested in her.

As he approached her, he tried to keep his eyes focused on her face instead of her perky boobs. That still didn't help because her face was just as beautiful. He focused on her lips, like her ass they weren't too big or too small with the right amount of plumpness. Her eyes. She had her father's eyes. _Good,_ that killed his fantasy because he imagined Shawn with those same blue eyes blazing as he points one of his hunting rifles at him.

"Hey, _Lilith_ , about the other week, you didn't tell your dad about the sex demon comment I made, did you?" he asked.

"No," Lily's face turned red and she self-consciously fiddled with her hair.

"Thank God! I didn't even know Shawn Michaels had a daughter," he said only for her to cover his mouth, looking around. He flicked his tongue over the palm of her hand.

"Eww!" she shrieked in response and pulled her hand away. "Okay, that was unnecessary and unsanitary."

"What was that about?" he asked.

She pulled him aside. In a quiet and serious tone she said, "I'm kind of going undercover and I don't want anyone to know about my parentage, not the fans or anyone back here. If you feel like you're going to blab about it, Hunter can legally bind you into silence. As far as you know I'm just a random local talent from Jacksonville, FL."

"That actually sounds pretty cool," Finn replied. "We need a little mystery around here. Judging by the way you're dressed, you debut tonight?"

"I do," she confirmed. "Against Natalya."

"The eventual reveal is going to be epic. Can't wait to see how things unfold," he said, just as his theme hit.

He finished his match and was on his way up the ramp during commercial when Lily was being walked out by a referee. She was getting a jobber's entrance and would be waiting in the ring when Raw come back from commercial. She looked nervous as she looked around the arena of 15,000 people but he also saw excitement and determination. As they passed each other, Finn nodded and mouthed, 'good luck' and she smiled in return.

Jojo introduced her on the mic as being from Jacksonville and that's when the arena exploded in support of who they thought was a hometown girl.

When he walked back into gorilla, he parked himself in front of a monitor beside Triple H who looked very invested. No surprise there seeing as she was the daughter of his best friend. Raw came back from commercial break and a banner with 'Lily' flashed across the screen in front of her already in the ring. Michael Cole on commentary mentioned that she was from Jacksonville and Graves made a comment about her attractiveness. Lily was stretching when Natalya's theme hit.

He was surprised to see Lily starting the match heelish as she dropkicks Nattie before the match starts and stomps on her. The crowd was very behind their hometown hero early on. Nattie quickly turned the tide and tosses Lily to the mat. Nattie charged at Lily but Lily moves and hits another dropkick. Lily went to the top rope and attempted a crossbody but Nattie blocked it. Finn noted that Lily had flashes of ability and flies around the ring pretty well while Nattie no doubt is a vet and focuses on trying to keep the match on the mat. Lily was a little clumsy but nothing obvious that the fans would notice but Finn being in the business 17 years was aware of the little things.

Nattie appeared visibly frustrated by the local rookie and kicked Lily, she starts on Lily's arm and gets an armbreaker applied, but Lily gets a foot on the ropes and the ref made Nattie break the hold. Rolling leg lock by Nattie and she slams Lily's knee into the mat and the crowd booed. Nattie goes for a backdrop suplex but Lily elbowed Nattie in the head until Nattie aborted. Lily went for a hurricanrana but Nattie blocks it and powerbombs her into the turnbuckles. Spinning elbow by Nattie and she hits a german suplex but Lily kicks out at 2. Nattie picks up Lily and goes for a suplex, but Lily reverses it into a roll-up for 2 count.

Lily dragged Nattie to the turnbuckle and kneed her in the head. Nattie rolled out of the ring holding her head. Lily climbed up to the top rope and missile drop kicked Nattie on the outside. It looked a little shaky in Finn's opinion but it was enough to pop the crowd. Lily rolls Nattie back in the ring but doesn't go for the pin and the announce team says that's a rookie mistake.

Nattie immediately regained control and applied the Sharpshooter but it was near the ropes so Lily reached out to break it up. Nattie then dragged Lily to the middle of the ring and locked it back in. Finn decided it was over and Lily had a good showing. It looked like Lily's hand was going to tap but the crowd gave her a "Lily" chant and she powered up. To his surprise, Lily reached back and grabbed Nattie's leg and yanked it, causing Nattie to fall over. Lily then rolled, taking Nattie with her, and stood up a sharpshooter of her own. The crowd went crazy for it but Nattie powered out of it.

Nattie was still on shaky legs when Lily came behind her and applied an overhead backbreaker lift twisted and dropped into a double knee gutbuster or as Finn called it back when he was Prince Devitt, _the Shingata Prince's Throne_. 1...2...3.

"She did it! The hometown girl did it," Graves said on commentary. Lily rolled out of the ring and went around the front row slapping hands with fans. The camera showed Nattie looking stunned.

Lily looked ready to collapse when she made it behind the curtains. Finn went over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What?" her brows knitted and she laughed. "Yeah, I'm just really geeked right now. The crowd was awesome out there. I almost feel bad for deceiving them. Almost."

"Tonight I learned that you're a thief, a very impressive thief," he smirked.

"Sorry, this was very last minute so I kind of dug around in your playbook. You don't really use it in WWE so I thought it would be okay. I hope I didn't offend you," she dropped her head.

He tipped her chin up. "I'd only be offended if it looked shitty. Yours did not, Lilith."

She blushed. "Thanks."

"Alright, two sweet me, kid," he said, extending his fingers.

She reached out to meet him but she had long, pointy stiletto nails and they stuck him. "Sorry."

"You're going to kill someone out there with those," he replied.

Triple H approached them. "You were great out there."

"Thanks," she said. "I need to get back to the locker room to get my phone. I know my dad is calling me."

"He called me 30 seconds after you appeared on screen regarding those chaps," H laughed. "Don't go back to the locker room yet. You have a segment with Kurt."

"Segment with Kurt?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, go with the producer," H motioned toward a guy wearing a headset. "He'll explain everything."

Nattie ducked behind the curtain. She bumped into Finn trying to get to Triple H. "Seriously, who is that girl? The match was supposed to end after my sharp shooter! That's what we planned in your office. She went into business for herself!"

"She's just an indie wrestling kid from Jacksonville," H was barely able to control his amusement. His mouth twitched into a smile before he went back to his business demeanor. "And no, she didn't. _I_ decided to change the ending, Nattie. It's no big deal."

Finn was still watching the monitors when the show came back from commercial it opened with Kurt looking down at his phone. Kurt suddenly looked up, laughed before looking back down. The camera panned over and revealed Nattie looking frustrated.

"What's funny Kurt?" she asked.

"Nothing," Kurt chuckled again, looking down at his phone. "I just got a text from my son, that's all."

"Yeah, right," Nattie replied. "I know exactly what you're laughing at. That victory out there was a fluke and hometown luck."

"Nattie, seriously, I was laughing at a text," Kurt explained showing Nattie his phone.

Nattie's face dropped and she forced an awkward, embarrassed chuckle. "Ohh."

"Too late," Lily said, coming into the scene. "You know, Nattie, I only have one hometown and I've never heard of Raw performing in the same place two Monday's in a row."

Kurt smirked. "Me either, Lily. How about you come back next Monday when Raw is in Greensboro, North Carolina and we'll get this settled once and for all."

Kurt exited, leaving Nattie and Lily staring each other down and then the action went back to the ring.

Finn was officially sold. She was good in the ring and was a natural actress. In his opinion she was better than Charlotte when Charlotte was only 2 years in.

After the show was over, he spotted Lily rolling her bags behind her. When the segment revealing that she would be back next week aired, there was a lot of whispers about her. There were two men from the camera crew talking as she passed.

"Who does she know?" one asked.

"More like who did she blow," the other said and they both laughed.

Apparently Lily heard them because she looked up at them before walking fast out of the area.

That pissed Finn off as he stormed over to them. "How about you show some respect. That girl went out there and had a better match than most of the men tonight, myself included. When James Ellsworth was invited back after his jobber duty, did you ask who he blew? Oh, wait, James isn't a beautiful woman so of course he wouldn't get sexist remarks thrown his way. Women are constantly climbing the ladder and slowly taking over this company. I suggest you get with the times because unlike them, you're disposable. Any idiot can hold a camera."

The men looked embarrassed by the time he finished with them and all they could do was mumbled sorry before walking away with their heads down.

Finn heard a slow clap behind him and turned to see Della and Marina.

"Bravo," Della applauded.

"What did you think of Lily's debut?" Marina asked.

"Why are you asking me?" he replied.

The girls exchanged looks and smirked, secretively. "Mostly because you're one of the few who know the truth of that we can't speak on unless we feel like going to court."

"So she wasn't joking about the legal binding?" Finn stared at them in disbelief. "Anyway, she did excellent. How is the women's locker room treating her?"

"Nothing overtly bad yet but some aren't cool with her just walking in," Marina said. "On the bright side, at least she gets to see who's real and who's fake early on before the reveal and they change their tune and start kissing her ass."

"Well, until then she better toughen up because no one is going to take it easy on her just because she's nice, young and pretty. If anything that'll make things harder for her. Imagine the guys who'll try to push up on her unknowingly," Della cringed.

"I think I got a preview of that earlier in the locker room," Finn sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, if you two promise to look out for her on the women's side, I'll try my best to look out for her on the men's side."


	3. The Show Goes On

Lily walked around her apartment getting dressed as her father ranted on speakerphone. He criticized everything from the sloppiness of her moves to her attire to her confidence in the ring.

"By any chance did I do anything right?" she asked, securing her hair in a ponytail.

"Well, the crowd was behind you so I guess you did," he answered.

"Thanks Dad. I have to get to the Performance Center. Bye," she hung up before he could respond.

Now on to the Performance Center where she was due for a training session with Della and Marina. Her phone was constantly beeping from social media notifications. Her follower count went from a few hundred to over 100,000 over night.

Marina walked through the door.

"Where's Della?"

"She's uh...photoshoot," Marina blurted but Lily could tell she was lying and apparently Marina recognized that. She sighed. "You know what, I'm going to be straight with you. Della has a lot going on when we're on the road these days so by the time we get home she's burned out. I think she'll be here tomorrow though."

"Oh, that's okay," Lily replied. As far as she was concerned Della and Marina were 1a and 1b to each other. Who you ranked first came down to your preference so she was just as happy to receive solo training with Marina.

"So, after watching your match back. You probably looked fluid to the untrained eye but to me you looked kind of clumsy, awkward and unsure of yourself. Since the top rope is my natural habitat, I can say that you were very uncoordinated whenever you went there," Marina assessed.

"God, you're almost as bad as my father," Lily snorted.

"Just be glad it's me and not Della or you'd have to rethink everything you've ever learned," Marina said.

"Yeah, I believe you on that."

"But to say this was your first showing in front of such a large crowd, I give you a B minus," Marina smiled. "You ready to get after it?"

"I'm ready," Lily nodded.

…she was not ready. Marina made her run the ropes for minutes on end, circle the ring and other various drills just to test her. Lily considered herself to be in good shape but she was blown by the time she was able to take a break. Then Marina taught her how to "dance" properly which meant forcing Marina to the turnbuckle with ease and how to take a reversal so that Lily went into the turnbuckle. Wrestling itself is fun but training for wrestling will kill a person before they realize they're dead. People looked down on wrestling and some didn't consider it a real sport but their training is just as grueling if not more than any of the so called real sports.

She was taking another breather when a familiar face walked in. _Finn_. Lily was sweaty and her nervousness caused fresh beads to form. She attempted to straighten up: wiping sweat from her face with her t-shirt and self-consciously fiddling with her ponytail.

"Calm down, obviously you're training. He'll probably respect seeing you the way you are, sweat and all because it shows that you're actually doing something instead of bullshitting," Marina whispered.

"Are we working hard or are we hardly working," Finn smiled, causing Lily to cringe outwardly at the cheesy old line.

"I think you can see the answer to that," Marina replied.

"Yeah, you do look a little beat down, Marina," Finn joked and Marina scoffed. "Let's see what you learned today, Lilith."

"Alright, you heard him," Marina said, moving to lock up.

Lily's hands were sweaty as she locked up with Marina. Marina basically man handled and carried Lily along. She was nervous and felt herself stumble multiple times during the sequences.

Marina took a step back. "You need to get it together."

Lily turned to Finn on the outside peeking through the ropes. "I can't work with you just standing there judging me!"

"Wait, wasn't there 15,000 people just standing there in Jacksonville last night judging you?" he shot back.

"Yeah but that's different," she grumbled.

"Different? How so?" he pressed.

"Quit while you're ahead," Marina whispered in Lily's ear.

"Marina, let me get in there," Finn said, sliding in the ring and removing his shirt. Marina looked shocked, Lily was shocked...er.

"Are you serious?" Lily asked, almost hyperventilating.

"Yeah, why not?" he asked innocently, holding his hands up to lock with her. Unlike moments ago with Marina, this time was different. Instead of being nervous, she was determined, wanting to impress him. To show him that she could hang.

Obviously, Finn had the advantage during the lock up and Lily eventually tries to create some separation but she was met with a chop. He didn't use his full strength but the impact was still enough to send her stumbling backwards.

After a few more sequences, Lily was now was on offensive. Her advantage is all about speed and flips but every time she went for the cover it isn't enough to win as Finn always kicks out at two.

Using the ropes for assistance, Lily wrenched Finn's arm. Finn escaped briefly before Lily continued to tie up his arm in various excruciatingly unimaginable ways. She stood, delivered a thunderous penalty kick to his chest that sounded more like a shotgun. She watched in amazement as his creamy skin turned red from the blow.

"Wow, if only Della could see this," Marina commented.

Lily tried to put him into an armbar but Finn somehow reversed it into a school boy roll up. Lily felt it before she looked down. Some kind of way during the roll up, his hand was laid across her vag. The surprise of it cause her to shriek.

"Oh shit!" he sounded genuinely shocked as well. "I'm sorry, it was an accident. I swear wasn't even paying attention."

"Sure…" Marina said, as if she didn't quite believe him but her tone was jokey.

"Marina, don't do that! This is serious. I'm serious. You've known me for years now. Both you and D. When have you ever heard of me being inappropriate with any female?" he asked with a sincere expression and tone.

"You got me there," Marina acknowledged with a nod.

He turned to Lily. "Are you okay?"

Lily didn't feel uncomfortable or violated by him. If anything she was shaken from that area never being touched before. She also believed him when he said it was an accident. She nodded. "I'm okay."

"Every male wrestler, no matter who he is has accidentally touched another man's junk before. When the adrenaline is pumping and you're in the middle of the action, who cares? I've been in this business for 17 years so I don't think anything of it at this point," he chuckled.

"Not going to lie, my hand has ended up on more than a few vaginas in my career, too," Marina added.

"See," Finn nodded. "But I should've been extra conscious today knowing that I was in the ring with a young lady."

"Finn, I said I'm okay!" Lily laughed. "Thanks for the explanation though. Let's continue."

They chained wrestled for a bit, sped things up, slowed things down and the next thing she knew they collapsed on the mat next to each other. Both of their bodies were covered in a sheen of sweat and their chests rose and fell with each gasp of breath. Their heads turned to each other at the same time. The look he gave her is the look she imagined lovers giving each other during post-coital relaxation.

"You ready to go back on the road?" he asked. "Who will you be riding with?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it yet. Triple H I guess," she shrugged.

"Nooo," Marina shook her head. "How is that going to look for a random new wrestler to be riding with the boss? People are either going to say you're fucking him or you're not the local talent that they portrayed you to be."

"Do you and Della ride alone?"

"We ride with Seth. You can tag along with us if you want," Marina offered.

" _Tag along_. Yikes, I feel like the annoying little sister intruding on my older sister and her friends. Plus is he cool? Because I'm pretty sure he's going to have questions," Lily inquired.

"And we'll just make up answers. It's not that strange to offer the newbie on the road a ride because that's exactly what Seth did for Della and I. Also, he can keep his share of secrets, trust me," Marina winked.

"What does that mean?" Finn raised a suspicious brow. "So you and Rollins?"

"God no!" Marina stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"Rollins and Della?" he asked.

"He's more of my type than hers and he's not my type at all so no," Marina replied.

"Where is she anyway? It's rare when I see one without the other. You two are basically fraternal twins."

"Well times have changed, Devitt," Marina gave a tight smile.

"I got it!" Finn's eyes widened. "How about you ride with me?"

"What?" Lily's head snapped.

"Yeah, I don't have any passengers I have to explain anything to like Marina and Della with Rollins. If anyone asks our connection I can say we have mutual associates on the indy scene. Problem solved," Finn proposed.

"I don't know, I'd have to ask my dad," Lily replied.

"Call him," Finn said gesturing toward her purse sitting ringside.

"Now?"

"Sure, why not?"

She slid out of the ring, grabbed her phone and sat on the apron. Pressing 'Dad' on her screen, she put it on speaker.

"Hello?" Shawn answered.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, honey?"

"So you know after next Monday I'm going to be on the road which means I'm going to have to ride with someone unless you want me to drive those three hour or more stretches alone…"

"You already know my thoughts on that when you had to drive from Orlando to Jacksonville so no," Shawn replied.

"Well I got offered a ride…"

"With who…"

"A guy…"

"Absolutely not!" Shawn hissed. "You've only made one appearance backstage. Now ask yourself why some guy would offer you a ride already despite not knowing a single thing about you besides what you look like?"

"Maybe because he's really nice," she said.

"The only way he's being genuinely really nice is if he's gay," Shawn snorted.

"Well he has a gay campaign going if that counts," Lily said looking over at Finn.

"Who?"

"The Prince," she smiled.

"Again, who?"

"Finn," she finally said.

"Oh!" Shawn released a sigh of relief into the receiver. "Yeah, Finn. I thought you were talking about one of the other guys. I trust Finn 100% to look after you. Give him my number and have him call me."

"Ok, I'll do that," Lily nodded.

"What are you up to?"

"Just finished a training session with Marina," Lily wouldn't dare reveal that she was up close and personal with Finn in the ring.

"I saw her wrestle for the first time against Bayley. She is awesome. You can learn a thing or two from her," Shawn complimented.

"Thank you," Marina yelled from her spot sitting on top of the turnbuckle.

"Alright, Lilith," Finn said after Shawn hung up. "I have to get going but I'll be here tomorrow if you're here."

"Damn, you're really going to be trapped in a car on three to four hour rides with Old Creeper Smile?" Marina mumbled when he walked away. "Close your eyes and imagine yourself waking up in a tub of ice. You look down and your kidney is missing. Can you not picture him, the assailant, walking in the bathroom with that big ass smile on his face?"

"Oh God, I actually can!" Lily laughed.

"Yep. Della made up that scenario a long time ago and 'Creeper Smile' was born," Marina patted her on the shoulder. "Alright kid, go home and get some rest. We'll be back tomorrow."

* * *

"Look who remembered where she came from," one of the NXT wrestlers yelled when Della walked in the next day.

"Right, I haven't seen her in weeks," Sadie said.

"Actually, I came from the Chicago independent scene circa 2006! Get it right!" Della laughed. "And Sadie, what are you even talking about? Bitch, we're roommates. We rode here together!"

"That's home! Here is here," Sadie clarified. "If Marina can show her face every now and then, so can you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Della said brushing it off. "Hey, Lily, what's up. What did you and Marina go over yesterday?"

"A lot of the basics," Lily shrugged.

"A lot but apparently not all. First order of business," Della said, pulling a nail clipper from behind her back.

"No!" Lily whimpered, balling her hands into fists in order to hide her nails. "They're freshly done."

"I don't care," Della laughed. "I am not looking to get my eye poked every sequence and management definitely won't continue my push if I have scars all over my face. Give them to me, all 10."

Lily extended her hands, dying inside as Della went down the line clipping.

"Alright, today I will show you-" Della started but was cut short.

"Nothing! You will show her nothing," Marina interrupted. "Summerslam is right around the corner and we're booked in a match that you aren't even medically cleared to compete in yet. You will not jeopardize your final examination Monday because you want to toss Lily around out here today."

"Fine," Della muttered. "Can I at least talk, _Mom_ , or will that damage my vocal cords from cutting a promo?"

"Talk you can do, _daughter_ ," Marina nodded.

"What exactly is your style?" Della asked. "I watched your match backstage and you were kind of all over the place. Like are you a luchadora, a technical wrestler or a grappler?"

"I kind of want to be flashy like my…" Lily cut the sentence short seeing others surrounding them in nearby practice rings. It's not like those in NXT didn't know but she needed to practice being discreet. The less she acknowledged Shawn as her father in casual settings, the better she'd be able to conceal her identity on the road. "... _idol_ but at the same time I want to be technical and stiff with my strikes and stuff."

"So in other words you want to work a mixed style like me," Della said.

"Basically, yeah," Lily confirmed with a nod.

"This should be interesting," Della said. "Let's go over the things that you can't learn in-ring. Don't let anyone intimidate you. This warning is only temporary because once the other shoe drops and they find out you're a Michaels everyone is going to start kissing your ass. I don't care how nice any of the girls seem, it takes a while to form trustworthy bonds. That means you can't go telling anyone your deep, dark secrets unless you want it all over the locker room within an hour. If you fall in love you're fucked," Della finished with a sad sigh.

Lily gasped. "You really are dating Rollins."

"Whet? No! I've known him for years and if I wanted him I could've had him when he was still Tyler Black. I'll leave that to Marina."

"And I'll leave it to his girlfriend Sarah because I don't fraternize with taken men," Marina rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's another thing. If a guy has a girlfriend or wife... _especially a wife and not to mention children_ , keep moving because you'll be _extra_ fucked."

"Moving on," Della cleared her throat. "The locker room. Bayley's cool. Sasha is too but she's territorial and doesn't care for girls who aren't serious about this business. Nattie's nice but she's been here a long time and has seen many girls come and go so what you saw last week was just her being cautious. Riott Squad is okay though Liv is annoying once you spend more than an hour around her. Alexa is...Alexa. Dana is useless, not really but she fucked up my shoulder causing me to sit out the last 2 Raws but other than that she's alright. Alicia Fox is basically the house mother of the locker room. Ember is kind of weird but she's alright as well."

"Thanks for the rundown," Lily replied. "Marina, are you ready?"

"Sure, let's do it and because Della can't get in the ring, I'll fill the void by doing her signature moves and offense," Marina said.

"You, do me?" Della scoffed. "I can't wait to see this. I don't even have signature moves. The good thing about working a mixed style is none of your matches will ever be the same. No one can ever say my matches are predictable. That's for sure."

"Oh get over yourself. Punch, forearm, kick, knee, submission move, counter, top rope, talk shit, submission move, flippy shit, mat wrestling, power move, finisher. No, you don't use the same moves every time but that's pretty much the formula of a Della Stone match," Marina shot back.

"I know the cirque du soleil spot monkey isn't talking! You waste half of your matches doing unnecessary flips and high spots that add absolutely nothing to the story!" Della retorted.

"Oh wow, I can't wait until creative turns you two against each other. The promos are going to be lit," Sasha laughed dressed down in workout gear standing ringside with Bayley. Lily hadn't noticed them come in.

"Why did you stop them. It was just getting good," Bayley chuckled. "Ready to train?"

"Let's go," Marina said before turning to Lily. "We're coming up with spots for our Summerslam match. If we have time after that, me and Della will be back over to help you."

"Oh, it's cool," Lily waved them off. She began a workout of rolls, bumps and exercises. When she took a breather, she noticed the two teams across the way. Sasha, Bayley and Marina were in the ring while Della was on the floor pointing and directing.

"Looks like you're in need of a trainer," Finn said, approaching the ring.

"Yeah, I kind of got abandoned for a bigger match," Lily laughed.

"Let's pick up where we left off," he replied, sliding into the ring. As soon as they locked up they went to work.

* * *

Lily's flight was long and her car ride with Finn to the arena was longer due to the awkward silences. He attempted to kill the dryness with small talk every now and then but it didn't work. She tried to conceal the glances she stole at his masculine side profile but he always caught her.

"So…" he said.

"So…" she replied.

His phone dinged and she heard several dings follow. She knew the sound of a group text when she heard it and something major was going on in his. He didn't check it until they stopped at a red light.

Finn gasped as he scrolled through the messages. His mouth hung open in shock. Cars behind him blew and she noticed that the light turned green. He dropped his phone in the cup holder and put his feet on the gas. "I can't believe this."

"What happened?"

"Jim Neidhart died this morning."

"What?" Lily sat up in her seat. "Poor Nattie. I hope she's okay. I can't imagine losing my dad."

"I like how your first concern was about Nattie instead of _'what about me and my match tonight?_ '"

"Well that's a second concern for sure but this is much bigger than that," Lily shook her head.

 **Hunter: I need to see you when u arrive.**

 **Lily: K, just made it. Omw.**

"So the word around the dirt sheet world is that the wrestling journalists don't buy your story and are desperate to be the first to get the real scoop on who you are. Your social media accounts have been scrubbed clean and you don't have any public records. That means the only way they'll get a leak is backstage which means you have to be extra cautious because there are sources everywhere," he said. "I'm sure you've heard by now about Jim's passing. Nattie has been pulled from tonight's show and has flown out to be with her family."

"Have you talked to her? How is she holding up?" Lily questioned.

"She lost her father so she's not doing great but Nattie will be okay. She's strong. Just keep her in your thoughts," he replied. "This tragic event also threw a wrench in my plans for you."

"Do you want me to go back to Orlando?"

"Of course not!" he stated. "This is the WWE. The show goes on."

* * *

Finn held his phone to his ear listening to it ring.

"Hello?" Shawn answered.

"We arrived at the arena about five minutes ago," Finn notified. When he called Shawn after the training session, he gave Finn his blessing to chauffeur his daughter around but it came at a price. Shawn wanted him to watch Lily's every move and report them back. Finn watched her every move indeed: every bat of her eyelashes, every bounce of her breast, every muscle twitch, the sway of her hips when she walked, the curve of her ass in the jeans she wore and her two legs better than most runway models...but Shawn probably didn't want to hear about any of that.

"How was the trip?"

"It was good. Traffic wasn't too bad so we actually made it to Greensboro twenty minutes ahead of schedule."

"What did you two talk about?"

"Uhhh…" Finn trailed off, not sure of how to answer that question. To be honest, they didn't talk about much. He could tell she was shy and a little nervous being alone with him and she didn't have much to say until he prompted her.

"Nevermind, nevermind," Shawn hastily. "Where is she now?"

"She mentioned something about meeting with Triple H before the show begins. You know with Mr. Neidhart's passing H will have to scrape any plans he had for Lily and Natalya tonight."

"Damn, I didn't even connect Jim's death to Nattie," Shawn went quiet for a while and Finn had to look at his screen to make sure he was still there. "Listen to me, you keep an eye on her while she's there tonight.

"O...kay," Finn replied.

"I'm serious. I know how the boys in the back are when it comes to new girls. A lot of things have changed about the business today but that's one thing that'll always remain the same. Hell, many moons ago I was that guy preying on fresh meat," Shawn chuckled. "I know the show will be starting soon so I'm going to let you go."

Finn was well aware of the looks he received and heard the mumbles when he entered the locker room. He tried best to ignore them but enough was enough. His chest rose and fell with a hard sigh. "Alright, what is it?"

"It seems you were holding out on us last week," Dolph spoke in an accusatory tone.

"I don't follow," Finn said even though he knew where this conversation was headed.

"We sat here last Monday and talked in great detail about the new girl and you never said a word," Dolph replied.

"In great detail you mean ' _hot blonde with the tight ass_ '?" Finn raised a brow, his voice was laced with contempt. "Do you know how many hot blondes with tight asses I know? How was that supposed to click with me? As a matter of fact, her name is Lily, she's actually a very nice girl and she has a lot more going on than her looks."

"I'm sure she does have more going on," Dolph exchanged smirks with other guys in the room.

"It's not like that," Finn said, defensively.

"Well, how did she end up riding with you?" Elias asked.

"We share a few mutual acquaintances so I'm looking out for her," Finn shrugged.

"I'm sure you are looking out for her," Ryder snickered.

"You grown men are worse than fangirls," Finn shook his head. "A female and male wrestler can't be seen or travel together without there being anything going on?"

"When the female looks like that I don't think I'd be able to do it," Dolph shook his head.

"Keep up that attitude and you'll be one of the first gone if Me Too makes its way to WWE," Finn snorted.

"Who are the mutual acquaintances?" Breeze questioned. "Maybe it'll help us understand how some girl we've never seen or heard of gets a slot on Raw and is now on the road."

"Nosey like the fangirls as well," Finn shook his head.

Finn was scheduled for a tag match tonight. He and Braun vs Mahal and Kevin Owens.

As he waited by a monitor, Lily's segment came on.

She was dressed in the clothes she arrived in rolling a suitcase through the parking garage.

"Hey!" Kurt yelled, catching up to her. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I just heard the news. I'm really sorry for Natalya's loss. I guess our rematch will have to wait match will have to wait a while," Lily replied.

"I would give you a match but the entire division is booked up in one way or another tonight," Kurt shrugged.

"Not everyone," Ruby accompanied by Liv and Sarah walked into the shot. Ruby was out on injury and just returned the previous week. "I need someone to work my ring rust off on, Kurt."

"Well, okay, Lily, if you're up for it," Kurt offered.

"Sure," Lily nodded, looking up for challenge. Then her face changed into confusion when Liv stuck her blue tongue out.

Finn could tell that those training sessions helped her because Lily's moves in the ring looked crisp and fluid. A big improvement from her debut.

Lily takes Ruby down as they trade holds. They get up and Ruby slams Lily right back to the mat. Ruby drops Lily again and talks trash. Lily ends up rolling Ruby for a 2 count. Lily with two more quick pin attempts. Ruby keeps control and slams Lily's head into the corner a few times.

Lily with offense in the corner, she charges but gets sent to the apron. Lily keeps control and kicks at Logan as she approaches from the apron, but misses. Ruby takes advantage of the distraction and slams Lily on the mat. Lily ends up out on the floor, selling the offense from Ruby. Logan and Morgan taunt her from the outside.

Back in the ring, Ruby works Lily over on the mat instead of covering for the pin. Ruby with a knee strike on the mat and a 2 count. Ruby keeps Lily grounded in the middle of the ring now as fans try to rally behind her with "Lily" chants.

Lily comes back strong giving Ruby some great kicks caused her to buckle on the canvas in pain. Lily went to the top rope but Sarah and Liv grabbed at her feet. Lily turned around on the ropes and hit a senton to the floor to take them out. The ref started the count as Lily slowly stood but she made it back in at 7.

Unfortunately, Ruby was recovered and smashed Lily's face into the turnbuckle followed by driving Lily's face into her knee. The camera pans to Liv and Sarah looking on. Ruby keeps control and ties Lily into a submission. Lily escapes and stumbles around the ring before shaking back with a springboard crossbody that gave her a 2 count. Ruby approaches first but Lily clotheslines and slams her. Shingata Prince's Throne. Finn knew it was over. 1...2...Riott Squad attack.

All three members beat Lily down to the sound out boos. Lily mounted a comeback by slinging Liv down and going blow for blow with Ruby. The crowd was eating it up but Sarah overpowered her from behind. All three recovered and continued the beatdown until Ruby hit the Riott Kick that finished Lily.

Finn was waiting in gorilla since his match was next after the commercial. The Riott Squad entered first and Lily was helped to the back by refs to sell the attack.

"Great job out there," Finn complimented her. "I'd too sweet you but remember what happened last time?"

"Actually," she held out her hands displaying her natural, short but well groomed nails.

"Oh, let's do it!" he held his fingers out and hers met them. "Bang."

"What are you giddy and smiley about?" Triple H asked, coming to Lily's side. "You have another segment to film that airs when we come back from commercial and you need to get back into character. Good show by the way."

When the commercial break was over, the camera showed Lily inside of the trainer's room being examined. When Kurt walked in, Lily sat up too fast and hissed, grabbing her side.

"Lily, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking because if I was, I would've banned Liv and Sarah from ringside. You were trying to leave earlier tonight and now you're in here banged up," Kurt said. "This is all my fault."

"Kurt, don't blame yourself. I was the one who agreed to it knowing the risks. If they want to play the numbers game, that's fine but at least be open with it instead of catching me from behind. I guarantee I could beat all three of them alone if it was upfront and I was prepared."

"I don't know if you could but you showed a lot of heart out there tonight. That's just what we need on Monday Night Raw. How about this, on Sunday, live on the Summerslam Kickoff Show, if you can beat the Riott Squad in a 3 on 1 handicap elimination match, I'll meet you behind the curtain with a Raw contract," Kurt said and the camera cut back to the commentators.

"She's getting a spot on Raw and now a Summerslam payday?" Kevin shook his head. "Seriously, who is that chick?"

"A star in the making," Finn replied, right as his theme dropped.

* * *

The weekend events leading up to Summerslam were hectic. To Lily's surprise they actually booked her for a signing. It was mostly horny males drooling over her but support was support. She avoided all questions about her origin like Hunter warned her in advance to do. He didn't want her to mix up a detail or say something that'll give her identity away.

It was finally Sunday, the big day. Her father was there to participate on the Pre-Show panel. He did that every now and then so his presence wouldn't set off any alarms. They both ended up in catering...or like Lily suspected, she showed up in catering and he followed. Everytime she looked up, she made eye contact with him. He couldn't even carry on conversations with his colleagues because he was too busy watching her.

She finally grabbed a cupcake and sat with her back turned to him.

Liv stood over here holding a brownie. "Are you ready for the match tonight?"

"I'm nervous, but I'm ready," Lily nodded.

"Don't look but Shawn Michaels is totally checking you out," Lily's voice was muffled as she said it due to her mouth being full.

Lily felt like gagging. "I think he's just looking in this general direction."

"No, I know the guy has a lazy eye but I'm pretty sure his head turns wherever you go," Liv laugh and Lily forced a chuckle at Liv making fun of her father's defect.

 **Lily: STOP!**

 **Dad: What?**

 **Lily: Watching me. People think you're checking me out.**

 **Dad: Eww.**

 **Lily: Exactly!**

Lily dressed herself in the locker room.

"You good?" Della asked. "This is the second biggest pay per view after all."

"I think so. I'm glad you were able to give me a few pointers in the ring last night since you're clear," Lily replied.

Nattie was back tonight to support Ronda. She was wearing Jim's coat and everyone was giving her support. Lily could tell she was well liked backstage. When Nattie spotted Lily, she pulled her aside. "H told me how concerned you were about me and I want to thank you. I still don't know where you came from and how you got here but you're a good kid and I wish you nothing but success."

"Thank you so much and once again, I'm sorry for your loss."

Someone popped the television on and the preshow panel was talking about the matches lined up for tonight. Lily could see the crowd filing in behind them. She was very nervous about tonight's audience. This wasn't tame Jacksonville or Greensboro. Summerslam in Brooklyn always brought the smarks. She wondered if they'd shit on her for not being a well known indy wrestler or hot shame her for being attractive. She wouldn't even get to show what she could do since each match was 5 minutes.

When the panel finished talking about the Rusev and Lana vs Almas and Zelina match, a graphic for Lily vs the Riott Squad appeared on screen as the next topic.

"I don't know about the other members of the Riott Squad but I think Ruby is going to be the last one standing from her team and I'm pretty sure she's going to win," Booker T analyzed. "I agree with what Kurt said Monday. The kid's got heart but it's going to take more than that to go up against the Riott Squad."

"I agree," The King, Jerry Lawler added. "Ruby is back from injury and she has something to prove."

"If she had so much to prove she would've proved it Monday during their initial match but instead, she needed her partners to save her ass," Shawn stated. "If Ruby somehow pulls it off tonight it won't be anything to brag about. Come on it's a 3 on 1 match, who's going to look at the win as legitimate. That Lily, she's got something special."

"Strong words from the Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels," Renee said as they went on the review the next match.

Shawn laid it on a little thick but he expected nothing else.

" _That Lily, she's got something special_ ," Liv mocked. "See, I told you he was checking you out."

Lily groaned. "Please, Liv, don't make me sick right before we go out."

Lily gasped as she found herself being pulled into a dark room. Panic set in until the light switched on. She gasped. "Ashley!"

"Lily, oh my god, you're so cute and little," Charlotte smiled, dressed in her new pink attire. "I've been keeping up with you and you're doing a great job in ring and out because no one knows who the hell you are!"

"Thanks, Ash, coming from you that means sooo much!" Lily said hugging herself to Charlotte. Lily being much shorter, her head landed on Charlotte's new boobs. They were huge.

They were set to go on between the Cruiserweight championship and The Raw tag team match. Lily watched as Cedric, still champ, walked behind the curtain. The ring crew was out now switching the ropes from 205's purple ropes to the white ropes.

"Is anybody even out there?" Lily asked hearing near silence on the other side of the curtain.

"The pre-show is always dead," Ruby commented.

Lily's theme played first and she stepped out on the ramp.

She saw Jojo standing in the ring. "The following contest is a 3 on 1 handicap elimination match. Introducing first from Jacksonville, Florida. Lily!"

The pre-show panel was still set up on the right side of the ramp. She looked over at her father and he gave her an assured nod. His forehead was perspiring and he pulled out a small towel to dab it.

The Riott Squad made their way to the ring next. They huddled outside of the ring before deciding that Liv would go first.

Liv got some brief offense, but it was pretty much a squash match. The crowd wasn't making much noise early on even though the work was decent. It took a huge sit out powerbomb from Lily to get the crowd interested. To finish, Lily side leg sweeped Liv before applying a dragon sleeper hold.

"Liv Morgan has been eliminated," Jojo announced and she was escorted to the back.

It was now Sarah Logan's turn. The match started slow with a lot of grappling. The crowd was very pro-Lily. A bunch of nasty strikes and chops, well-worked and paced. Sarah got distracted by Ruby shouting instruction and Lily took advantage, catching her for Shingata Prince's Throne. 1...2...3.

"Sarah Logan has been eliminated," Jojo said.

Sarah didn't go as quietly as Liv did. She forearmed Lily and stomped her out and was booed, weakening her for the final match with Ruby.

The crowd was really invested by now. Lily was still on the mat from Sarah's attack and Ruby was determined to keep her there, driving her knee into Lily's back and grinding down Lily with holds. Lily eventually makes a comeback with a hurricanrana and a running knee to the corner. Ruby briefly gained the advantage but it didn't last. The ref signaled to Lily that they were almost out of time. Ruby bounces off the ropes only to run into a Superkick. 1...2...3.

"Ruby Riott has been eliminated. The winner of this match, Lily!"

By the time Lily walked down the ramp, the panel was gone. She noticed that the cameraman was still following her when she ducked behind the curtain and remembered she was due for a post-match segment with Kurt. Just like he said on Raw, he met her backstage with a contract. He handed her a pin and she signed.

When that was over, she looked up and saw her father waiting for her. There were no other wrestlers in the area so she hugged him.

"You did it, honey," Shawn said into her ear. "I'm finally convinced that you belong here."

Looking over Shawn's shoulder, she spotted Finn in full body paint and mouthed, ' _thank you_ ' to him. He smiled and damn did he look creepy.


	4. Job Description

Lily stared at the car ceiling, feeling the bumpy ride under her back as she laid down on the backseat. With her earpods in place, she was trying her best to drown out the conversation going on in the front between Finn and Cathy. Apparently they were back together again. However they weren't 100% judging by the coded arguments they'd have every now and then during the trip.

Lily felt the car stop and when she sat up, they were in front of a gas station. Cathy got out and Finn turned around in his seat.

"Do you want anything out of the store? I can call Cathy to get it," Finn asked and Lily wordlessly shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, not looking at him.

"Something's wrong, I can tell," he said with a note of concern in his voice. He reached out and placed his hand on her bare knee. "You miss Della and Marina, don't you?"

"Well, yeah," Lily nodded. That was partially true since those two were moved to Smackdown now that their feud with Sasha and Bayley ended. It was also better to admit to that than say that Cathy made her uncomfortable.

"Hey, you still have me, right?" he smiled.

"For now…" Lily quietly replied, glancing out the window at Cathy walking out of the store holding a bag filled with snacks.

"Alright, the gas isn't going to pump itself," he said, sliding out of the car.

When Cathy got back into the car, she pulled the visor mirror down and refreshed her lipstick. Without looking at Lily she began speaking. "So, you've been traveling with Fergal for a while now, huh?"

"I wouldn't call a few weeks a while but yeah…"

"Has he mentioned any other girls?"

"No, he doesn't really talk about his personal life. He doesn't even talk about you," Lily replied, cringing after she said it. She didn't mean it like that but what she said could easily be interpreted as shade.

Apparently it didn't phase Cathy because she continued with the interrogation. "Have you seen any girls backstage coming onto him?"

"No, I haven't but I don't really pay attention to him once we arrive at the arena. We pretty much go our separate ways until the show ends," which was the truth.

Finally, Cathy turned around to face her, her brown eyes piercing Lily. "Has he ever tried to come on to you."

"Not yet. I mean, no," Lily cleared her throat.

"Okay, good. I'm sure your father wouldn't approve of that," Cathy smiled before turning back around. There was something in Cathy's voice that sounded threatening but Lily wasn't sure if that was the case or if she just imagined it.

Finn hung the pump up and got back into the car. "Lilith, we're in Toronto tonight but if we were in Montreal and the Nattie storyline didn't get derailed this would've been the perfect place to do the reveal."

Lily smiled, remembering one of her father's legendary promos. "I already know. Who's my daddy, Montreal?"

"Yeah," Finn laughed. "Imagine the heat."

They checked into their hotel first and then Finn drove to the arena at around 5. Lily went around to the trunk to get her duffel bag but Finn almost knocked her over trying to carry it for her. That action did not go unnoticed by Cathy. The look of pure annoyance on her face was priceless. If looks could kill, Lily would have been dead in the parking lot.

As always her first stop was Hunter's office. She wondered what her plans going forward were. Her storyline with Nattie was sidelined for now and she'd beaten all three members of the Riott Squad clean so there was no business left there. Now what?

"Hey, do I have a match tonight?"

"Not on Raw," Hunter shook his head. "Tonight is kind of stacked but I'm putting you in a match on Main Event against Ember. Main Event tapes before Raw so you may want to start getting dressed."

"Okay, Thanks."

When Lily made it to the locker room she sat in a quiet corner alone, changing into her gear and mentally preparing herself for her match. Ember walked over briefly to discuss a few spots but that was it. With her head down, Lily browsed her Twitter mentions until she felt a body settle beside her. _Nattie._

"Just because D & M are gone doesn't mean you have to isolate yourself," Nattie said. "You seem young and I know you're doing this because of shyness and you don't really know anyone yet. I understand that but to others it may come across as rude and standoffish. I've been here a long time and I've seen girls kicked out of the locker room for that and not welcomed back until they learned some respect."

"I'm sorry. It's not that I'm isolating myself but I don't want to get my feelings hurt trying to talk to women who don't seem to like me," Lily shrugged.

"Don't like you? Did anyone in here personally tell you that they didn't like you?" Nattie questioned. "Look at this from our point of view. We get along for the most part but we're still competitive and we're all fighting for a spot. Boom, here comes this new girl out of nowhere being thrown into the locker room with absolutely no explanation. Of course we were confused and a little cautious. Heck, I'm still curious about who you are and how you got here but it's not my place to question management. So get your stuff together and come sit with the rest of us."

Lily followed Nattie's veteran advice accordingly. None of the other girls really had much to say to her besides speaking and small talk. They were preoccupied with Trish's apparent presence backstage tonight. When she looked up at the TV monitor, Main Event was starting. The first match was No Way Jose vs Tyler Breeze.

"I think it's about time we start walking," Ember said.

"Okay, I'm right behind you," Lily replied, standing in front of the mirror for a final look at herself.

By the time Lily stepped out of the locker room, Ember was out of sight so she had to make the journey alone. On her way, she spotted one of her idols. _The_ Trish Stratus. Trish was in conversation with Elias as Lily walked forward. Trish turned to look at Lily and Lily was frozen, too starstruck to speak.

"I'll see you out there later, Elias," Trish said, dismissing him. She looked so poised, so confident, so professional...everything Lily hoped to become here in her time with WWE. Lily was very intimidated by her but Trish seemed warm and open. "I know who you are."

"Really? Wow. I've only been on Raw for a few weeks so to have a legend like yourself be familiar with me is crazy!"

"No, I know baby Lily Hickenbottom when I see her. You were never backstage but your mom sure was and she had plenty of pictures," Trish revealed and Lily gasped in panic. "Relax, this is our secret."

"Lily?" one of the backstage personnel members called. "We need you to gorilla now!"

Lily looked at the monitor and No Way Jose was celebrating his victory which meant she and Ember were up next.

They both worked hard during their match but there wasn't much reaction from the crowd other than chanting for one or the other. People were still filing in or grabbing food before Raw started.

When Lily walked out of gorilla, Dolph was standing there. McIntyre wasn't too far behind and Roman was wetting his hair so she assumed they would all be in the opening segment.

Dolph separated from them, smirking as he approached her. "I don't think we've been introduced yet."

* * *

Finn sighed, listening to Cathy's ranting.

"Are you attracted to her?"

"She's attractive," Finn shrugged.

"That much is obvious but I'm asking are _you_ attracted to her?" she pressed.

"No," he lied to keep down confusion.

Cathy seemed satisfied by the answer, her body visibly relaxed. "Lily on the other hand. Is she attracted to you?"

Finn felt his eyes beginning to cross. "I have no idea and if she is, so what? She's a teenager, I'm sure teens are attracted to any guy giving them extended eye contact! We haven't been back together a full 72 hours yet and here we go with the insecurity."

Cathy scoffed, storming off. When she made it to the corner, she paused and looked back at him. "Guess you were right about the extended eye contact thing."

Finn walked forward, wondering what Cathy was referring to. Once he hit the corner, he spotted Dolph talking to someone who appeared to be Lily. Dolph's back was to Finn and covering Lily so he couldn't really see her. Moving closer, he saw that she didn't look very comfortable.

"From what I've seen so far you're really good. Let's not even talk about your look," Dolph whistled. "That match you had out there was great but it was wasted on a D list show. I'm a vet around here so I can make sure you're on Raw every Monday."

Finn cleared his throat. "Are you alright, Lilith?"

"What do you mean is she alright? Of course she's alright," Dolph said to Finn before turning back to Lily. "Aren't you, Lilith?"

"It's _Lily,_ and I really want to get back to the locker room like I've been telling you for the last five minutes," she replied, walking around Dolph.

"I'm only going to say this one," Finn began, stepping up to Dolph. "Stay away from her."

"Or what?" Dolph challenged, narrowing his eyes.

Finn chuckled. "Give it a little while, you'll find out."

Roman's theme played and he went out to cut a promo only for Braun to interrupt. Dolph and McIntyre followed and finally Baron went out which prompted Finn's match tonight.

The crowd was very pro-Finn as always. They had a decent match and finally Finn went for the Coup de Grace, but Baron moved and hit him with the chair. The ref called for the bell, but Baron said he forgot to mention that the match was no DQ. Baron had the match restarted, hit Finn in the back with a chair, then hit End of Days. 1...2...3.

When Finn made it back to the locker room, he showered and started dressing. When he picked up his phone he noticed a missed call and text from Shawn.

 **Shawn: Tomorrow you two leave the country for Lily's first international tour. I know things don't get wild like they did back in my day thanks to camera phones but I still don't want you to let her out of your sight.**

 **Finn: I'm on it sir.**

 **Shawn: I'll be there next Monday for my role in this Hunter vs Taker feud.**

 **Finn: Alright, see you then.**

* * *

The tour began in London. Before the show started, Finn took Lily on a walk around to see the sights and sounds of England. After the show was over, he offered to take her to a pub a short distance from their hotel...until he remembered that she was underage so he went with some of the guys instead. Technically she was old enough to drink in London but he was sticking to Lily's American law.

Their next stop was Osaka, Japan. He did the same actions as the day before, touring her around while she took snaps of everything. They went to a restaurant where she ate too much and ended up getting sick mid-match. As soon as she hit the curtains she threw up in a cup sitting on one of the tables in gorilla.

Their last stop was Shanghai, China. Lily thought that it was crazy to think that she'd never been outside of Texas and here she was traveling the world.

"Hello?" Lily answered when her phone rung.

"What are you doing?" Shawn asked.

"A better question is what are _you_ doing?" she looked at the time on her phone screen. "Dad, it's 2:16 PM here which means it's 3:16 AM in San Antonio."

"I was just checking on you. Your mom didn't want me to be overbearing calling you every night so I waited until the end," he replied.

"Everything has been going fine. The fans have been very excited to see us. I haven't had a bad encounter yet. Everyone is getting along and stuff. It's been great," Lily explained.

"Okay, good. I'll check on you tomorrow. Later today for me, actually," Shawn replied. "Love you."

"Love you, too, Dad."

A few hours later, Lily waited in line to board the bus that would transport the Superstars to Shanghai's Mercedes Benz-Arena for tonight's show. She followed Finn on but he went straight to the back where the men were sitting. She didn't feel comfortable going back there and she thought he deserved some boy time after running around with her all week.

Lily looked at the row she was standing beside. Alexa was by the window seat and a bag was beside her in the empty seat. "Is anyone sitting here?"

"No, but I like to keep my bag near me," Alexa replied, turning her head to look out the window.

Lily walked further until she reached Sasha. There was also a bag in the seat beside her. "I guess your bag needs a seat too?"

"Nah, I was actually saving this seat for Bayley but she's taking too long," Sasha said, removing the bag and placing it into her lap. "You can sit."

"Thanks," Lily replied, taking the seat. She was getting ready to put her earpods in when Sasha started talking.

"She's shook..."

"Who?"

"Really?" Sasha tilted her head. "Who else?"

"Oh, why do you think so?"

"Notice the top three women of WWE today. Ronda, Charlotte, Alexa. What do they all have in common?" Sasha asked. "You have that same thing. Ronda won't be here forever which means Alexa is still going to be Raw's top girl for near future. Her spot was basically secure until out of nowhere, they pull another petite blonde out of their ass. I don't know how you are on the mic yet but you're already better in the ring and you're actually willing to take bumps. All you need to do is schedule some time off to get implants and you'll be ready for your first year long title run."

"How do you feel about Charlotte?"

"Charlotte is very good and I respect her but at the end of the day she's...a Flair,"

"Oh," Lily nodded knowing that in a little while Sasha may come to think she's very good and respect her but would still think of her as...a Michaels.

Tonight's match was a 5 on 5 tag. Sasha, Bayley, Nattie, Ronda and Lily vs Ruby, Liv, Sara, Alexa and Alicia.

The match was pretty much a clusterfuck but the fans seemed to be enjoying it. Ronda was in the ring which caused Alexa to avoid being tagged. Ronda eventually became ' _annoyed_ ' and tagged in Lily.

Alexa immediately hit Lily with an elbow to the face. Lily made a comeback, flattening Alexa with a shining wizard. While Alexa was down, Lily went to the top rope. Meanwhile, Alexa recovered, getting up and coming to the turnbuckle.

Lily wasn't stable yet, her knees shaking as she tried to get her balance. She was trying to communicate this with Alexa without it being obvious. She started hissing " _no, not yet_ " through her teeth but it was too late, Alexa yanked her down and she landed bad on her feet. Lily immediately felt her ankle buckle. She balled herself up on the canvas and grabbed it. The ref came over and it was obvious that she wasn't selling. He threw up an X to signal that she was injured and Lily was helped to the back.

Finn's match took place earlier in the show so he was fully dressed and waiting when she was walked behind the curtain. He followed her into the trainer's area.

"I have to call your dad," he said, digging in his pockets for his phone.

"No you don't. It was 3 AM there when he called earlier. It's still early there so I'm sure he's tired and I don't want to worry him," Lily shook her head. "I'm sure when he wakes up at an appropriate time and checks the dirt sheets he'll see it."

"I can't let that happen because then it'll look like I'm not doing my job," Finn stated.

"Your job?" Lily raised a brow before it hit her.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath.

"So you being nice to me, taking up for me and looking out for me has all been a _job_?" she angrily spat.

"Lilith, I-

"Get out!" she yelled. He opened his mouth to say something but she interrupted, throwing a bottle of rubbing alcohol at his head. He ducked but still didn't move. "I said, GET OUT!"

After the medical examination finished, it was concluded that it was just a sprain and she'd be fine in a few days.

"You'll need this," the trainer said, giving her a crutch.

They loaded on the bus and this time Alexa moved her bag and offered Lily a seat. Alexa was quiet for the first few minutes of the ride. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just a sprain," Lily replied.

"I'm sorry," Alexa apologized. "I thought I heard you trying to say something but the crowd was so loud I couldn't understand it. You were near your tag partners so I just figured you were saying something to them."

"Yeah, I admit I wasn't very clear so I don't blame you. Thankfully, it's nothing serious. It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me," Lily chuckled.

When Lily made it to her room, she soaked herself in a tub of hot water. The swelling went down a little. She hobbled back to her bed and dressed in a t-shirt and panties. She saw that she had a missed call from her father. Finn apparently fulfilled his job duty. She couldn't believe him! Foolishly, she thought he liked her but everything that has happened between them thus far has only been a task completed by a Shawn Michaels' mark.

 **Della: Marina and I just saw the video. Can't tell if it's your foot or leg. It's not broken is it?**

 **Lily: Neither. It's my ankle. Just a sprain.**

 **Della: Oh, you'll live to wrestle another day.**

 **Lily: That's what I'm hoping.**

Lily heard a knock on her door. She groaned knowing that she'd have to get up again in order to answer it. When she hopped to the door on one foot, she looked through the peephole. There was no one there. She heard the knock again and noticed the connecting door in her room for the first time. She moved to it and opened it. Finn stood shirtless on the other side holding an ice pack.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, getting a room next to mine is part of your job as well?"

"Just let me explain, Lilith," he pleaded.

"Go ahead," she folded her arms but didn't step aside to invite him in.

He sighed. "I'm not trying to stand here and you're in no condition to stand here, either."

"Fine," she moved aside, struggling to keep pressure off of her foot. He grabbed her arm but she jerked away which almost made her fall.

"Stubborn little girl," he said, picking her up bridal style and carried her to the bed.

"You were saying," Lily prompted, scooting backwards until her back hit the headboard.

"Earlier tonight you asked me a series of questions and I'm going to go ahead and answer before you kick me out again," he laughed. "The way I originally treated you had absolutely nothing to do with Shawn. I treated you the way I did because I saw how talented you were and something about you drew me in. Me taking up for you didn't have anything to do with Shawn either. Della and Marina are witnesses to the fact that I'd planned to look out for you before Shawn became a factor. I didn't have this ' _job_ ' until after I called him the day I trained you."

"I'm sorry I reacted that way. I was kind of hurt because I thought..." she trailed off, hissing when he laid the cold pack on her ankle.

"You thought what?"

"Nothing, it's stupid," she shook her head. Lily was aware of him moving the ice pack up and down her ankle and foot. "I thought maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Finn removed the pack and suddenly began massaging her foot with a strong touch.

They both sat there in relative silence for a moment, an obvious tension building between them. Lily had never experienced a moment quite like this. As a teen, she had boyfriends but she hadn't experienced such closeness with a boy as she was having now. _A boy_. Finn was far from a boy. She noticed his bicep ripple while he rubbed her foot.

"Maybe what?" he repeated.

"That maybe we had some sort of connection going on," she finally said. He didn't say anything and she felt hurt. She smiled it off. "I know right? Like I said, stupid."

Without a response, Finn leaned up and kissed her. It took Lily a moment to realize what was going on and when she did, she didn't know how to react. She'd kiss boys before but most of those kisses were inexperienced and hurried while stabbing their tongues down her throat. This one was slow and soft. Her thoughts were racing. ' _My breath?! Oh, wait, I brushed before I got in the tub. Will he think I'm a bad kisser?'_ That thought reminded her...she needed to kiss him back. Lily tentatively and shyly kissed him back the best she could.

Finn trailed a line of kisses down her neck, taking time to suck in certain spots. He pulled her t-shirt over her head and reached behind her back to unhook her bra to free her breast. Her nipples hardened in response to the cool air. They hardened further when he dipped his head to take one in his mouth. If anyone heard her breathing without seeing what was transpiring, they'd swear someone was hyperventilating or having a heart attack...maybe she was. Finn rolled his tongue over her nipple in his mouth and began to suck on it slowly, dragging it into his mouth. Eventually he kissed a path over to the other.

He pushed her down to lay flat on the pillow whilst still connected to her nipple. He disconnected, sitting back on his heels. The first thing she noticed was the extra large bulge denting his pajama pants. She thought about the 'rumor' the girls mentioned to her on Day 1. When she looked at his face, he was creeper smiling at her reaction.

When Finn reached for her panties, she whimpered. He withdrew his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but can we go slow? You're obviously well endowed and I'm...a virgin," she blushed, embarrassed.

Finn reached for her shirt, forcing it back over her head as he grumbled to himself.

"What?" Lily sat up on her elbows. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Many things but let's run them down. First, I'm way to old for you. Second, your father trusted me to keep other guys away and there I was one satin piece of fabric away from having sex with you. Third, I'm trying to work things out with Cathy again."

"Let me run them back now. First, age is nothing but a number. Second, my father doesn't have to know unless you call and report that _too_. Third, keyword: _again_. How many times do you have to work it out before you realize it's not going to work?" she asked him. "Also, it seems like finding out that I was a virgin is what snapped you out of it. I just turned 18, my father is strict, overbearing Shawn Michaels and I freaked out when you accidentally touched my vag. I think it was safe to assume that my hymen was still intact."

"You make some good points but it's not up for discussion," Finn replied, pulling her sheets back and moving her under them.

"You don't have to tuck me in like I'm a child!"

"You are, in comparison to me at least."

"That didn't stop you five minutes ago," she muttered.

"Bad judgment on my part," he admitted, laying on top of the sheet.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting here with you until you fall asleep..."

Lily yawned, smiling to herself. "I bet none of that was in your job description."

* * *

The next morning, they boarded the flight home. Finn sat beside her. Neither of them said a word the entire 16 hour flight from Shanghai to Columbus, Ohio for Raw. The silence wasn't awkward. It was blissful and comforting. It felt right. Thanks to last night, the energy had changed between them and they both knew it.

He carried her bags through the airport. The only thing she held was her crutch and her phone.

"Hey, my dad has made it and he wants to have lunch with us in his hotel room," Lily said reading her phone.

"Cool, but you might want to take care of your neck," he snickered.

"My neck?" Lily stopped, accessing her front facing camera. She gasped looking at dark pink hickies decorating her neck. He was still walking but he looked back at her with a smirk. No matter. This was nothing concealer couldn't fix.

When they made it to Shawn's hotel room, Hunter was also seated at the four person table. Lily felt awkward walking side by side with Finn after what happened.

Her ankle still hurt but she tried not to let it show because she knew Shawn would worry himself to death. She hissed as she put pressure on it.

Finn seemed to notice, greeting them to distract them from Lily's stride. "Mornin'!"

"You two had fun on tour?" Hunter asked.

"No," Lily quickly blurted.

"I thought you said everything was going great?" Shawn's brow knitted.

"It was but my injury kind of ruined the experience as a whole," Lily cleaned it up.

"You two getting along well?" Hunter questioned.

"Yes!" Lily said.

"She's not giving you any trouble is she?" Shawn inquired.

"Shawn, I have to tell you something. I didn't want to tell you but I think it's best that you know. I actually had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to come clean about this or not. I can't chaperone Lily anymore," Finn paused, sighing. Lily's heart leapt, she felt her legs shaking. "I can't take it anymore. I have to endure her teenage rantings, every time we pass Sephora she wants to stop and then there's her obsessive gushing over Justin Bieber."

"That sounds about right," Shawn chuckled. "Except you're behind on what's hip to the youngsters. Apparently Bieber is out, Shawn Mendes is in."

"This guy knows," Lily laughed.

* * *

Shawn tried not to obsessively watch his daughter tonight. It was hard but he knew he had to let her go. Her injury was enough to make him want to put her on the first flight back to San Antonio but he knew she wasn't going for that after she fought so hard to get here. The only thing he took comfort in was knowing that it wasn't serious.

His biggest concern now was men. He saw the way the boys watched and whispered about her whenever she walked in a room. Hell, she was beautiful, why wouldn't they notice? Her being this young, it would be easy for someone to take advantage of her but that's what Finn was there for. To step up where Shawn couldn't...at least not now.

Shawn went out for his segment and the response he got made him miss doing this every Monday but this was Lily's time now. Personally, he felt Ric was more overbearing than he was and if Ric could take a backseat for Ashley, so could he. Shawn knew he was critical and harsh when he spoke to her about her matches but he was just preparing her. Once Michaels gets added to her name, the fans are going to grade her 100 times worse than they would other performers. She was going to have to work 100 times harder to prove herself and live up to the Michaels name.

After the show was over, he hugged his daughter goodbye. He wanted her to leave with him but that wasn't possible at this point. It made him sad to see his little girl walk away from him without looking back.

Finn joined her. Lily was still limping and he put his arm around her shoulder to help her. That was fine but there was something about the way she tenderly slid her arm around his back that startled Shawn. Everything from their talking, laughing and body language resembled a couple but Shawn _knew_ not. Finn wouldn't betray him.

Shawn shrugged it off as fatherly paranoia.


	5. Home Too-Sweet Home

Lily watched as Finn rolled his suitcase through the parking lot of San Antonio International Airport that Saturday a day ahead of Hell in a Cell. She blew the horn of her car and stuck her body halfway out of the window to greet him. "Hello gorgeous!"

"Hello, yourself," he smirked, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "Can you pop the trunk so I can load my bags?"

"We have to make a grocery run. My mom gave me a long list of stuff to get while I'm out. My dad's having a little get together," Lily informed when he got into the passenger's seat.

"A get together, eh? Is that something I should be attending?"

"Of course. When I told him that I was going to meet you he told me to invite you," she replied. Lily began backing out, not seeing the car behind her. It blew and she slammed on the breaks, causing Finn's head to hit the dashboard. "Sorry."

Sitting up, he rubbed his forehead. "Remind me to _never_ let you drive when we're back on the road. I don't care if I'm half-sleep with a concussion!"

Finn refused to even let her drive her own shopping cart as they entered the store. "You may have a head on collision with some old lady."

"Hey, Lily," a familiar voice spoke and she turned around.

"Oh, hey, Todd," Lily said, acknowledging one of her old classmates. "What's up?"

"Just visiting my family for the weekend," he replied.

"Where are you?"

"Princeton," he nodded, proudly. "Are you at USC?"

"No," she shook her head. "I had other plans?"

Todd raised a brow. "Really? Like what?"

"Dreams," was all she said before reuniting with Finn.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"The boy I had my first kiss with," Lily answered.

Finn's head whipped around. "You could've done better than some preppy rich kid."

"I _am_ a preppy rich kid if you haven't noticed. You just rode in my Mercedes and my house has eight bedrooms even though it's just the three of us," she snorted. "We didn't have jacked up wrestler types walking the halls of my school so I settled for the guy with the least punchable face. I'm sure his father paid his way to Princeton because he's dumb as rocks."

"If that kid had the least punchable face, I'd love to see the guy with the most. Yikes," he grimaced. "What's your type anyway?"

"You.." she giggled. Being around him after _that_ night wasn't as awkward as she thought it would be. That actually helped break the ice between them. There were no more forced small talk or shy glances. They carried on now like a platonic couple.

"Oh, 37 year old Irishmen. If you're willing to bump 37 up to 40, Sheamus is available," he joked.

"Do you have his number?" Lily winked.

"The moment you make eye contact with Sheamus in _any_ way other than to exchange pleasantries, I will call Shawn and make sure he's on a flight from San Antonio to wherever you stand,"

"I'll be sure to tell him that I exchanged _pleasure_ with his trusted chaperone…" an evil grin overtook her face. "Let's not even get into what I'd tell Cathy."

"You like to play the game dirty, eh? I was fooled into thinking you were a good girl but with a name like Lilith I shouldn't be surprised..."

"And that's where I took my first bump at like 3," Lily pointed out the window at the park as she took Finn on a tour around her hometown. "And that stadium is where I was supposed to graduate but it has no roof and it rained so we had to have it in the auditorium."

"Good thing you're not billed from here yet. It's a tradition that the hometown wrestler always loses," Finn replied.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not doing anything tomorrow anyway because H is afraid casuals or nonfan will come just to come and recognize me," Lily turned on her street and pulled up in her driveway.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?" he asked. Lily stumbled and fell into his hard body. He chuckled as he steadied her. "God, Lilith, I'm the one actually carrying something."

When Lily looked up, her mother was standing in the doorway, nervously wringing her hands. "We're back!"

"Lily, d-did you get everything?" Lily's Mom stammered, rubbing her throat as if it were dry.

"Everything you wanted and some you didn't," Lily smelled meat grilling on the barbeque pit as soon as she stepped inside. "Mom, this is Finn. Finn, this is my mom."

"Fergal, ma'am, pleased to meet you," Finn threw his smile on her but she didn't seem impressed, her expression never changed as she shook his hand. This shocked Lily because her mother was usually very friendly when she met new people.

"My god, what happened to your forehead?" Mom asked.

Finn reached up and touched it. The spot was red and swelling a little. "Car accident. I hope you have car insurance on Lily because I'm thinking about suing."

Again, her mom wasn't amused. "Lily, go wrap some ice in a towel."

When Lily returned, Finn was sitting on a stool with his legs spread. Without thinking, she walked into the V shape they formed and began tending to his knot.

"Lily, I think he can handle that himself…"

"Oh, right," Lily replied, backing off.

"Hey, you made it," Shawn said, coming through the back door wearing an apron. "We're out back, come have a drink with us."

 _We_ being Hunter and fellow Texas natives Booker T, Stone Cold and The Undertaker. Shawn always kept his home life and his wrestling life separate so this was Lily's first time meeting everyone. Now that she was in the business, Shawn felt it was time to _finally_ invite them over.

"Do you need help, Mom?" Lily asked, pleasantly.

"Sure…"

They worked together in complete silence on macaroni, chili, fried okra and blueberry cobbler but when they were halfway through the pecan pies, Lily couldn't take it anymore. "Mom, what is it?"

"Are you sleeping with him?" Lily's mom finally blurted.

"What?" Lily was taken aback.

"Are you having sex with him?"

"I understood you the first time, Mom. I'm just confused about why you would ask that?" Lily replied, genuinely curious.

"Nevermind _why_ I'm asking. Just answer the question." Mom firmly demanded.

"I'm still a virgin, if that's what you want to know."

Her mother paused for a minute, closing her eyes before asking. "Have you had _any_ sort of sexual contact with him?"

Lily's face went white. She hadn't always told her mother everything, but she didn't make a habit out of lying to her, either. This was big. She couldn't hide it. "Yes, but it was just once."

"I knew it!"

"How?"

"Mother's intuition, and then some like you both were way too comfortable with you standing between his legs. Did he pressure you?"

"No, of course not! He was the one who stopped it before we went too far," Lily admitted.

"Lily, that's a _man_ and I'm afraid you're going to get hurt doing whatever it is that you're doing with him. I can't tell you to stop because you're thousands of miles away from home ever week so just like with wrestling, you're going to do what you want to do. Just be careful, okay?"

"I don't think you have to worry because he isn't going to let it go any further than it went that night…"

"Are you on birth control?"

"Mom!"

"Hey, when I said be careful I meant more than just emotionally," she shrugged.

"No, Mom, I'm not on birth control and I don't think I need to start the pill. Now on to more important matters..." Lily paused. "...are you going to tell Dad?"

"I kept the wrestling a secret, I guess I can keep this under wraps too but if he finds out on his own, don't involve me. As far as you know I have no knowledge of it because not only will he kill you and Fergal, he'll kill me as well. It'll be a triple murder-suicide."

"I bet," Lily replied, walking over to look out of the back window. Shawn's lips were moving and Finn was laughing at whatever was being said as he held a beer.

Soon the sun set and dinner was served. Lily sat next to Finn as she listened to old road stories.

"Then there was that time in Vegas when Flair, Shawn and H had that stripper-"

"Hey!" Shawn interrupted Booker. "I don't know if you've noticed but this is my wife and that's my daughter."

"Sorry, man, I got a little carried away," Booker chuckled.

"I'd actually like to hear the end of that story," Lily's Mom commented. "What year was this?"

"96..."

"I met Shawn in 97 so he barely skated by..."

"So, Lily, the WWE Universe has been begging Shawn to come back after his segment with Taker the other week. How do you feel about that?" Hunter asked.

"Uh…" Lily's first reaction was to glance at the side of Finn's head because she knew if Shawn came back, they'd soon reveal her parentage and Finn wouldn't be necessary anymore. That action caused Hunter to raise a suspicious brow and his jaw tensed. " _If_ it happens, I think it'll be great. I'm surprised it took this long to get him back in a ring."

Afterwards, Finn helped her with the dishes. Lily added too much liquid and Finn enthusiastically popped bubbles.

"But _I'm_ the child," she scoffed.

"Speaking of child, how to you _really_ feel about Shawn potentially coming back?"

"I don't know. I was enjoying the freedom I have on the road and I know _if_ he comes back that's going to be the end of that. Then of course, we can't be together anymore. Well not _together-together_ ," she quickly clarified. "We won't be able to ride and hang together anymore. Let's just pray it's a one off thing or he doesn't come back on the road at all."

"Fortunately, your father likes me so I think he'll let us hang," he replied. He looked at his watch and walked over to Hunter. "Whenever you leave, can I catch you. I have to try to find a hotel."

"I'm getting ready to leave now," Hunter replied, flashing the keys in his hand.

"Find?" Shawn tilted his head. "You aren't already checked in?"

"No, as soon as I got off the plane, Lily was waiting to pick me up and I came straight here," Finn explained.

"Well, the hotel I'm booked at has no vacancies but I'll drive you around until we find one," Hunter said.

"How about I save you both the trouble. He can stay here, we have plenty of guest bedrooms," Shawn offered without thinking twice.

"No, Shawn, thank you but I couldn't. I've already eaten you out of house and home, drunk your beers and heard enough stories to last a lifetime. You don't owe me anything," Finn politely declined.

"I insist. You've been babysitting my daughter and looking out for her. The least I can is put you up for the night on a mattress softer than whatever hotel you were going to check into. Not to mention my wife's breakfast," Shawn bragged.

"Shawn, I can't-" Finn shook his head.

"I'm not going to take no for an answer!" Shawn replied in a firm tone.

"Okay," Finn agreed reluctantly with a sigh.

Lily's jaw dropped upon hearing the exchange. Finn spending the night in her home. What could possibly go wrong.

* * *

 _How did I get myself into this_ , was the first thought that went through his head as he walked out of the front door to retrieve his bags from Lily's trunk. Hunter followed him out.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hunter said, extending his hand. Finn met it and Hunter began applying pressure to the grip. It felt bone crushing. "For Shawn to trust you enough to watch over his daughter and invite you to spend the night in his home shows how much respect he has for you. He loves Lily and as her godfather, so do I. It would kill him if he found out anything shady was going on with her."

"Shady, like what?" Finn hissed after H released his hand. He flexed it just to make sure it wasn't broken.

" _Anything_ and I do mean _anything_ that she'd have to keep secret from him," H replied before disappearing into the night. Finn didn't know what H knew exactly but if he sniffed something out, Shawn would eventually catch on, too.

When he entered the house, Lily's Mom was waiting on him. She'd been nice enough but he could tell she wasn't crazy about him. Lily was nowhere to be found and neither was Shawn.

"Let me show you to your room, Fergal," with a tight smile she began taking him on what seemed like a maze of hallways. He assumed she was showing him to a room far away from Lily and heck, if he wanted to get back to Lily he wouldn't be able to find his way to her. Finally, she turned the light on in a nice room with a king size bed with thick bedposts, large pillows. "Will this do?"

"Yes ma'am, it's very nice," he complimented.

"Thanks. I hope you're in for the night. See in the morning," the way she said it told him that she suspected something as well. Shit, things were getting way too close to home.

 **Cathy: Are you at the hotel?**

 **Finn: I'm in a room...**

 **Cathy: K, I'm about to call you in 5.**

It was about 2 AM and Finn couldn't sleep. He threw the sheets back and climbed out of bed. He walked the halls and came to a full stop in front of Shawn's glass gun display cabinet. The sight sent a shiver down his spine.

Pretty soon he found himself in a room that appeared to be Shawn's own personal museum. Framed photos of his best moments, display cases that held every title he'd ever won, every t-shirt that was ever made was lined on the walls and he even had mannequins wearing his Wrestlemania outfits. There was a small nearly empty case in the corner. Inside were two pictures of Lily: one during her debut match and one of her winning her first PPV match. Finn heard the door open and turned.

Lily yelped in surprise. She held a hand to her chest to calm herself. "I didn't know anyone was in here. I was getting a drink from the kitchen and saw the light coming from under the door. I thought that my dad was showed off his narcissist room to the guys earlier and forgot to turn the light off."

"No, it's just me," he replied. "Narcissist room? Everyone in the business today should hope to have accomplished enough to fill an entire room. I've been in this business for 17 years and I don't think I'd even be able to fill one wall yet."

" _Yet_? You're almost 40. Give up, _Grandpa_ ," she teased.

"Grandpa? But don't you want to...hmm. I assumed you had daddy issues but maybe I should take it back a generation," he snorted.

"Ha...ha," she replied sarcastically and began approaching him. That's when he noticed the state of her dress. She was only wearing a pink t-shirt and her virginal white panties were peeking out from under. Her eyes lustfully roamed his shirtless body, his pajama pants riding low on his v-cut.

He put his hand out to stop her. "Lilith, stay back."

"What? Why?" she asked, halting her step.

"Because this is a dangerous game and we can't play it with a full case of guns right around the corner!" he stressed. "I know you want me and unfortunately, I feel the same. You're half naked in front of me and I've been drinking all evening. It's best if you keep your distance."

"What if I don't want to keep my distance," Lily she countered as she took a threatening step forward.

"Lilith!" he hissed through his teeth. "This is a very lovely home but not fitting enough to die in when Shawn wakes up and finds me in here alone with his panty clad daughter.

"My dad sleeps like a hibernating bear," she moved in close, violating his personal space. "Let's finish what we started in China."

"I'd love nothing more but I can't. I can't be your first and I can't help you break your father's heart," he pleaded with her.

"My dad loves you if you can't tell and if we do things the right way, he may give you his blessing. If he isn't crazy about it at first he'll eventually come to accept us like he did my wrestling," she replied. "And I want you to be my first."

"No," he shook his head. "Your first time should be special not wasted on the likes of me. It shouldn't be like this, sneaking around in your own home."

"But it will be special, with you," she cooed.

"Why are you so in a hurry to have sex? Is it because of me because we don't have to do this in order for you to keep my attention, Lilith. I like you for more than your looks or what we can do sexually. Despite our age difference, we get along well, you're passionate about everything you do and you're a great person."

"That just confirmed that you're exactly who I want. Someone who actually cares about me."

"How many times and how many ways do I have to say you're Shawn Michaels' daughter?"

"God, am I not supposed to have a life because I'm Shawn Michaels daughter?" she frowned. "Am I never supposed to date or have sex because I'm Shawn Michaels daughter? I'm only 18 and just months into my WWE career. I'm going to be around for years to come. Being on the road 300 days a year, 9 times out of 10, my future partner is going to be a coworker. I could end up being just a notch in the belt of someone like Dolph or I could be with someone like you," she looked up at him with those blue eyes, how could he say no?

"You are going to be the death of me, literally," he remarked. He knew this was wrong but somehow couldn't stop himself from playing with fire. He couldn't fight it or maybe he could but didn't want to. "Where is your room and more importantly, where is your parent's room?"

"My room is on the other side of the house. My parents room is upstairs."

"You said your dad is a hibernating bear but what about your mom? Does she get up in the middle of the night for any reason? Bathroom? Glass of water? To check on you?"

"No, there's a bathroom in their room, she keeps a glass of water on the nightstand and she hasn't check on me since I was 12. Besides, she downed so many glasses of wine this evening, I don't expect her to be up anytime soon."

"Lead the way," he gestured and off they went. In the dark hallway, he saw a shadow dart between them and then felt teeth nipping at his ankles. "What the hell? Get your puppy."

"He's not a puppy, he's a six year old teacup pomeranian. Stop, Frankie!" Lily scolded. "He probably thinks you're kidnapping me or something."

Once the door was closed, Lily tried to look confident as they stood in her bedroom but he could tell she was nervous. "C-can we turn off the lights? I think it would be for the best anyway in case by some miracle one of my parents do wake."

Finn knew that she was probably feeling shy now that the moment was here so he respected her wishes and hit the lights.

He simply placed my index finger below her chin and gently lifted her head so that their lips could touch. Hers tasted like vanilla. He was hard almost instantly. He smiled a wide and devious smile into the darkness. It was sheer magic the way Lily responded, at first just their lips touching, Finn didn't want to push her in any way. No matter how far they went tonight he still wanted her to know she had the option to change her mind. He felt a slight trembling as their lips moved together delicately.

Lily was beautiful and though he knew he didn't deserve her virginity, he felt it was a privilege to initiate her into the world of sex.

His tongue slipped out to lick her lips. She parted them in response, allowing his tongue into her mouth. Silently his lips moved down to trace over the smooth skin of her neck as she leaned into him. He heard a quiet moan escape her lips. He tugged at her shirt and she took a step back to help him remove it. Though it was dark and he couldn't see her, he knew she had a perfect petite-meets-curvy body.

Leaning down, Finn made small circles around her nipple with his tongue, making them smaller and smaller before sucking the bud into his mouth. He bit down and she began breathing harder.

"I want to touch you," she whispered. He obliged, pushing his pajama bottoms down, he sprung out. Lily took his penis by her hand and caressed it, exploring it with nervous hands. "Wow, they didn't lie. I'm glad the lights are out because I'd die if I had to watch this thing try to fit inside of me."

"Who are _they_?" his breath hitched as she stroked him.

"Let's leave it at _they_ ," she giggled.

"Would _they_ happen to be Della and Marina?"

"Yep. Have you ever…with one of them?"

"No, never! Those two are like one of the guys," he laughed.

"Have you slept with any other WWE employee besides Cathy?"

"No, I haven't and how did we get so far off track?" he asked, walking her over to the bed and pushing her down to sit. "Now it's my turn to touch you."

Going to his knees, Finn kissed his way down her firm stomach to her belly button and then began to continue down to her panties. He inhaled a big whiff of her sweet scent. He took hold of the elastic band of her panties with his teeth and pulled them down. She giggled a little in response.

He ran the palm of his hand up and down her, feeling her wetness. As he rubbed, he would occasionally tease a finger at her entrance. Lily shuddered when he finally inserted a digit halfway inside of her. Spreading her legs wider, she allowed him more room to explore as she laid back on the bed from her sitting position.

He took this opportunity to flatten his tongue and slowly press it along her slit, sliding from the bottom to the top. She gasped, her breath caught in her throat, and then her entire body began to shake. When he reached her clit, he gave it several firm quick licks before sucking the bed into his mouth. She bucked violently against his mouth and he wrapped his arms under her thighs and around her hips to try his best to hold her down. Before long her clit was completely swollen due to his attention turning her into a whimpering mess. As Finn french kissed her clit she came and when he didn't stop to give her time to rest, she came again, her body held firmly in place.

"S-stop, it's sore!" she whimpered.

"It's not sore, it's sensitive but as you wish," he sat up on his knees. Finn moved his penis up and down against her wet clitoris. Though he wanted to enter her right then and there, he wasn't overtly trying to. This action was done mostly for her to feel him and get used to the idea of having him in that area.

"Shit," he cursed, backing away from her.

"What?" she asked.

"Condom…"

"Oh yeah," she replied. "Leave no evidence behind...especially a baby."

"I'd start looking for flights to Japan immediately because my WWE career would be over the second word got back to Hunter. Heck, my life would be over the second it got to Shawn. Both will probably be over for doing this alone."

Finn walked naked through the halls. He knew he was fucked if one of her parents came downstairs. He walked until he made it back to his room. He went ahead and snapped the condom on there because it was easy to leave a condom wrapper laying around and didn't want to risk leaving it in Lily's room. He stared at his bed. He could crawl into it, fall asleep and forget this ever happened but he was in too deep now.

He jumped when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was the dog standing in his doorway. Its head was tilted and he appeared to be judging Finn. "Frankie is it? You'll understand when you meet a girl dog...assuming you aren't fixed...which you probably are. Sorry, bud."

He made his way back to her room and she was still in the same spot.

"Lilith, I've been gone for about five minutes. That should've given you plenty of time to think. Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "Once it's gone you can't get it back."

Her response was to buck forward against him. "Yes."

"Okay," he sighed, lining himself up to her entrance. He lightly pressed forward and was met with resistance that caused her to hiss. "I'm sorry but there's no way to avoid hurting you this once."

"Ow!" she cried out when he tried again.

"Lilith, relax," he instructed. "I don't know, maybe we shouldn't-"

"Just do it!" she interrupted, pulling a pillow over her head. "I'm ready."

Overcoming the resistance, he finally entered, hearing her muffled cries.

"Is it in?" she ripped the pillow away breathlessly.

"You can't tell?" he snorted.

"God yes," she grunted in pain.

Finn moved to lay flat on top of her. The more she hugged him, the deeper he pushed, stopping when he was halfway in knowing that this was all she'd be able to take the first time. When she relaxed he began thrusting. He was suddenly halted by the sound of her cries and sniffling in his ear and pulled out. "I can't do this knowing I'm hurting you. Your hymen is broken which means the hard part is over. Things will be much easier next time and hopefully you'll feel something other than pain. I can actually take you out for dinner or something first and it'll be more comfortable for both of us. Me especially since I won't have to think about one of your parents walking in on us."

"But-" she whined.

"But, nothing," Finn replied. He went over to her bathroom and flushed the condom and went back to bed.

"You can't sleep in here!" Lily whispered.

"I know but do you think I'm just going to do _that_ to you and abandon you in a dark quiet room? Trust me, I don't want to be caught dead in here."

"Finn?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you…" she yawned.

* * *

When Lily squinted her eyes open, her clock read 5:15 AM. The gentle soreness between her legs made her smile, thinking back to last night. She'd actually done it...with him. When she rolled over onto her back, she felt a hard body next to her. She sat up like the Undertaker and gasped. She shook him. "Finn!"

"Hmm?" he grumbled in his sleep.

"You have to get out of here before one of my parents wake!" she hissed frantically.

"Oh, shit! I swear I closed my eyes for one second," he threw the sheets back and stood. She could see his penis dangling and immediately closed her eyes as if it wasn't inside of her a few hours ago. He dressed and walked out of her room. She heard Frankie barking at home. "I thought we were cool, little guy."

Lily fell asleep again and didn't wake until 8. She showered, thinking about the scenes from last night. She went over to make her bed and found a small blood stain on her sheets. She ripped them off and headed to the laundry room.

The scent of breakfast hit her as she walked through the kitchen with the folded sheets tucked under her arms.

"Good morning, Lily," her mom spoke.

"Good Morning," Lily grunted, not stopping to chat.

"What are you doing?" he mom found her stuffing the sheets in the washer.

Her mom walked forward and pulled the sheets out. Her face turned as white as the sheets she held. "Oh my god!"

"It's that time of the month," Lily tried to play it off but she knew her mom wasn't buying it.

"I know your time of the month just like I know your birthday. That came and went two weeks ago! Lily, how dare you and under our roof?!"

"Good Morning girls. Whoa, sorry!" Shawn walked by and immediately shielded his eyes once he saw the stain. "Good thing you aren't wrestling tonight with _that_ going on. I'm ready to eat. I'll go wake Finn."

"I'll deal with you later," her mom hissed.

Lily sat at the table, nervously drumming her fingers.

"Morning!" Finn walked into the kitchen with that huge smile on his face. That grin felt very inappropriate in this moment.

The only person who greeted him was Shawn. "How'd you sleep."

"Like a baby," Finn replied and her mom grumbled as she angrily moved around on the stove.

"Alright, here it comes," her mom carefully placed a plate in front of Shawn, Lily and herself. She slammed Finn's plate down in front of him so hard that Lily was surprised it didn't break. Shawn had his head down praying and didn't seem to notice.

Finn raised his brow at Lily in question and she nodded to confirm. He dropped his head in shame. He stared at him food almost like he was scared to eat it for the next five minutes.

"Fegal, you haven't touched your food, honey," Lily's mom sounded concerned but Lily knew she was trying to intimidate him.

"Sorry, I'm not really hungry plus I don't like to eat much the morning of a big show," he replied.

"Come on, I made your plate _very special._ Just a few bites, for me?" she put a long, thick sausage to her mouth and chomped the tip of it off.

Finn shoved his plate forward and scooted his chair back. "Uhm, I'll take it to go. If you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my room for a few hours."

"Sure, son, make yourself at home," Shawn nodded.

"He already has," Mom mumbled.

 **Finn: I think your mom is trying to kill me.**

 **Lily: She's a MOM, not a MURDERER. Lol.**

 **Finn: Is she going to tell Shawn?**

 **Lily: Before we had sex she suspected something was going on between us and said she wouldn't but I don't know how she's feeling right now. She said she'd"deal with me later." If she didn't tell him while we were all at the table, I don't think she will...at least not now.**

"You ready to go, Lilith?" Finn asked, standing in the kitchen with his bags at around 1:30.

Lily's mom looked at the clock. "Isn't it a little too early to be heading to the arena?"

"Yeah, it is. I had a little running around to do like hitting the gym and grabbing lunch. How about I come back to pick you up at around 5?"

"Lily, since you aren't wrestling tonight, how about you stay home with me? We can sit right there on the sofa and watch the show together the way we use to. Please?" the way her mom said it told her that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Lily wasn't going to challenge her especially with her father standing there. She glanced at Finn and then back to her mom. "Okay."


	6. Too Sour

**If you can't tell by the length of the chapter...this is the big one.**

* * *

 **The Monday before Super ShowDown**

"Hello Gorgeous!" Lily greeted Finn at the airport. Snuggling into his hard body when he engulfed her with a hug. After her mom kept her home for two weeks following Hell in a Cell under the guise of ' _I miss you and until you have a storyline you can stay home with me'_ , seeing his face was a welcome sight.

"Hello yourself. I'd kiss you but…" he trailed off looking around at the crowd of people walking paths around them. "...yeah."

"We'll have plenty of time for that later," she winked. "So Bayley is your Mixed Match Challenge partner. We would've been so much better considering I've stolen over half of your moveset anyway. I'm jealous."

"At least you admit when you're jealous instead of pouting about it," he chuckled referencing Cathy which reminded Lily…

"So…"

"So…?"

"What's your status with her?"

"We were off _that_ weekend if that's what you want to know," he informed.

"Yeah, I figured that but are you going to break it off for good now that we…you know. For you two to go back and forth as much as you do tells that you leave the door open for reconciliation.."

"I'll talk to her when I get home Tuesday. How's Ma?" he laughed.

"Let's just say you aren't her favorite person right now and you probably never will be. She's demoted you from Fergal to _Him_..."

"So neither of your parents will be in attendance at our wedding. Yikes," he grimaced.

"Wedding? Finn, this is so sudden! Imagine that, the WWE Universe knowing me as Lily Devitt before Lily Michaels," she snorted. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," he replied tenderly. "Oh and I _really_ appreciated those pictures you sent during our time apart but I think it'll be better for me to see you in person or on FaceTime. With all the hacking and leaks, I would hate for you to get caught up. I would also hate for it to be my phone that it's found on."

"Yeah, you're right. I definitely don't want to be known as Mrs. Devitt and the girl with the boobs before I'm known as a Michaels," she laughed.

Backstage at Raw, Della and Marina were the first faces Lily saw. "Hey, I thought you two were on Smackdown now."

"We are but we have a rematch with Sasha and Bayley at the Australia show so we're here to build on that," Della replied. "Where have you been? You weren't at Hell in a Cell, Raw the day after, any of the house shows or Raw last week."

"You had Devitt walking around looking lonely," Marina teased.

"Can I tell you something?" Lily whispered, looking around to make sure no one was in hearing range.

"Sure," Marina raised a brow.

"Hell in a Cell was in San Antonio where I'm from. My dad invited Finn to our house and he ended up spending the night. We did it and my mom found out and held me hostage at home. The only reason I'm here tonight is because my dad is scheduled to appear so she thinks it's safe," Lily revealed.

"Oh my god!" Della's jaw dropped as she shook her head. "Lily, what did I tell you?"

"About what?"

"About what you just told me!"

"That he's too old for me?"

"Well, yeah, that too but something else. It was more of a general thing…"

"I don't know," Lily shrugged.

"I'll refresh your memory," Marina cleared her throat. "Della said in Chapter 3 and I quote, ' _I don't care how nice any of the girls seem, it takes a while to form trustworthy bonds. That means you can't go telling anyone your deep, dark secrets unless you want it all over the locker room within an hour. If you fall in love you're fucked._ "

"Nice 4th wall break," Della nodded.

"Thank you. I thought it was smooth," Marina replied. "Let's get back on track."

"Oh, right," Lily mumbled. "But I can trust you two."

"But what if you couldn't," Della shot back.

"But I can," Lily returned casually.

"But what if you couldn't," Della challenged.

"But I can and do you know why? Because you signed a gag order," Lily smirked.

"She's got a point," Marina was clearly amused.

"Back to Devitt!" Della said. "He should be ashamed of his old self! You're young enough to be his daughter if he had you at like 19."

"I'm guessing you initiated because I just can't see him being the one who makes the first move after he freaked out over that accidental crotch grab in the ring," Marina reminded.

"Shawn is going to kick his ass and I can't wait," Della rubbed her hands together.

"I doubt they'll be any of that," Lily brushed it off.

"Are you sure about that?" Della tilted her head. "What father wants to know his little princess lost her virginity to an almost 40 year old that he trusted under his own roof? Shawn is going to lose his smile…"

"...again," Marina finished. "So...how big is it?"

" _Huge_. I would've been traumatized if he hadn't respected that it was my first time," Lily shivered.

"How are you going to explain your absence to the locker room?" Marina inquired. "There have been discussions…"

"Like what?" Lily's brow knitted in question.

"You'll see," Marina replied, cracking the door that read Female Superstars.

"Look who's back," Della grabbed a cup off a table as she entered the locker room. "Time to pay up. The girl is still unmistakably a B."

Lily watched as Alexa and Sasha dropped money into Della's cup.

"I'm confused," Lily looked to Marina for answers.

"There were a lot of conspiracy theories going around about your unexplained absence so D made a betting pool," Marina explained. "Alexa and Sasha guessed you were out getting implants."

"What's next on the list," Della asked. "Oh, abortion?"

"What?" Lily scoffed. "No!"

All three members of the Riott Squad went to fill the cup.

"If you're here that means you didn't decide to quit, right?"

"No!" Lily confirmed which led to Ember and Dana relinquishing cash.

"Last but not least, your ankle injury was worse than the trainer originally thought?"

"No, my ankle was just fine," Lily replied which led to Della and Marina adding money. "I was just taking some personal time off."

"That means I win because I said vacation. That's close enough," Nattie stated.

"Close but no cigar," Della shook her head, passing the cup to Lily. "Use this as start up money to fund your future boob job, abortion and or your new career in case you get a serious injury."

"So the Rock's daughter apparently wants to wrestle and will be training soon," Bayley said, reading her phone. "It's over for all of us once she's able to run the ropes."

"Second generation kids just wake up one morning and decide they want to wrestle and boom, they walk right in and it happens," Sasha ranted. "It's not fair but hey, this company was built on nepotism."

Nattie cleared her throat. "Uhm, hi."

"Not you, Nattie," Sasha clarified. "We all know you have passion for this business and we know you aren't just riding on your last name."

"And what exactly determines whether a generational kid has passion?" Lily blurted before she knew it. "Yes, I can admit that having a famous last name can get them a position but they have to prove themselves once they get there. At the end of the day their fathers can't make the crowd _genuinely_ like them, their fathers can't make the crowd cheer for them or buy their merch. You will never understand how hard it is to work hard, give it your all and still have it brushed off as ' _she's only here because she's Sh...The Rock's daughter_!'"

"And you _do_ understand?" Sasha asked, suspiciously. She could feel every pair of eyes in the room on her.

"No, no, I do not but I'm not a fan of downing someone before giving them a chance, easy ride or not," Lily attempted to clean it up as best as she could. She headed towards the door. "I have to go."

"Already? You just got back," Della commented innocently.

Lily sunk herself down into a quiet corner alone. On the other side of the room was her father carrying on a conversation with a producer but his attention seemed to be on her. She wondered how hard it must've been as a father to see your daughter upset and not be able to go to her. There was no time to ponder on it because a black, spandex covered crotch walked into her face, blocking her view.

"This is the part where you say 'hello gorgeous'," Finn said.

"Hello gorgeous," Lily responded dryly.

"Well that wasn't very convincing. I feel hideous," he replied, sinking down next to her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she told him, feeling her face burn red.

"Then why are you just sitting here alone?"

"I just didn't want to be in the locker room right now."

"Did anyone say anything to you in there?"

"No, not directly anyway…"

"The thought of Kane taking time off from his mayoral duties to go to Australia and participate in this is laughable. Imagine the next city council meeting. Choke slamming people on the taxpayer's dime," Finn said which garnered a laugh out of her.

"Bald HBK looks horrible!" Zack Ryder noted in front of the monitor.

"If you live long enough you'll be bald too but the difference is you'll be bald at home begging for shoot interviews and living off money from autograph signings because your legacy won't be great enough to be called back by WWE to appear!" Lily snapped.

"Oooh, we have a Shawn Michaels fangirl in the building," Ryder shot back.

"Worry about the far and few between Zack Ryder fangirls, asshole!" Lily countered.

"Lilith!" Finn hissed in shock when Ryder walked away.

"I'm sorry. I thought I'd be able to handle comments about my father and generational kids while I'm undercover but I'm triggered. My mouth almost got me in trouble back in the locker room," she sighed.

"Yeah, but you know what, this may be a good thing," he replied.

"How so?" she sat up.

"Because you're coming out of that nervous little girl shell you wore when you first arrived. That's the original reason I started looking out for you. Pretty soon you won't need me anymore," he made a show of wiping a fake tear.

"No, I'll always need you," she whispered.

"Then I'll always be here," he assured her. "After the last two weeks, I'm starting to realize that I need you too."

"So you know his presence means we can't see each other tonight," Lily sighed.

"I know but I'm not going anywhere and neither are you so as much as I want to spend time with you alone, it can wait. There's nothing wrong with building a little tension. That'll only make the next time more intense," he winked, his pink tongue tracing his bottom lip.

"We also won't be able to spend the night with each other in Australia, either."

"Actually, I'm not going. I'll be at New York Comic-Con since I'm not booked in a match."

"That's great!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm not booked in a match either so I'll skip the trip and we can be together!"

"Sounds like a plan. Two sweet me, kid," he replied, extending his fingers that she met.

"Now I have to run this by my dad," Lily glanced at the monitor and saw Shawn and Hunter laid out in the middle of the ring. "Gee, I hope he's okay. When I was home he did a lot of working out."

"I can tell by his arms. Why did he shave his head though?"

"I don't know but my mom hates it," Lily laughed, standing to her feet. "I'll see you again Friday...I hope."

Lily waited for her father outside of gorilla. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, my adrenaline was pumping so I didn't feel any of that," Shawn chuckled.

"You will in the morning," Hunter replied in passing.

Lily grabbed Shawn's arm and pulled him aside. "About Australia…"

"I can't wait. You're going to have such a great time. After tonight, the feeling has officially been restored," he gushed with excitement.

"Do I have to go?" She asked.

"Of course you do. Why wouldn't you go?" he asked in return.

"Because it's a waste of time if I'm not booked in a match," she asserted.

"Having the opportunity to visit a beautiful place that you've never been to before is a waste of time," it did sound ridiculous when he said it like that. "Why don't you want to go?"

"Because I, well…" Lily came up blank. She knew she wouldn't win this argument and she'd risk hurting his feelings if she skipped out on what could be the first stage of his comeback. "The flight is super long."

"If you really want this life long flights are just something you'll have to get use to. Come on, let's see if catering is still open. I'm starving," he draped an arm over her shoulder.

"Dad, I can't be seen with you yet," Lily whispered upon seeing a few backstage staff members staring at them curiously.

"Oh, yeah," he replied, dropping his arm. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Finn took a deep breath when he heard a knock on his door the next day. He knew who it was and what he had to do was going to be hard. He and Cathy had some great times and there was a time that he thought she was the one but it was time to move on. He didn't know if his future was with Lily but he knew as of right now there was no where he'd rather be than with her.

Cathy was all over him as soon as he swung the door open. She kissed him but he didn't respond. Her hand snaked down to grab his crotch. "I knew you'd call. It's been almost a month since we've seen each other."

"We need to talk," Finn took a step back, separating from her grasps.

"Uh oh. I only hear that or say that myself when we're on the outs but since we're already off, what could this possibly be?"

"Cathy, I loved you and together we've had some great times but as a couple we're not progressing anymore and we haven't in a while," he slowly spoke.

"Wait, how are you breaking up with me when we're already broken up?" Cathy looked perplexed.

"Yes but we break up and make up. I think we've run our course and it's time for both of us to move on," he replied.

She went quiet. "It seems that you've already moved on. It's because of _her_ isn't it? Do you really think Shawn Michaels is going to let his daughter run off into the sunset with a pedophile!"

"Lily is an adult."

Cathy rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, _borderline_ pedophile. What the hell do you two have in common besides genitals?"

"That's all we had in common at first and we made it work...until it didn't," he pointed out. "We actually have more things in common than you think. Lily is sweet, she's beautiful, she makes me laugh, not to mention we've bonded over the business."

"Spare me," she bitterly interrupted him. "I guess I should gather some of the things I keep here now that I'm apparently leaving for good."

"You don't have to get anything now. You have a key and you can pick it up when I'm gone so things won't be awkward," he replied.

"No, I'm fine!" she said.

Finn was beyond relieved to realize that she was taking this better than he expected. Surprisingly well actually. He didn't expect her to be rolled into a ball on the floor but he didn't think she'd be as nonchalant as she was now. He went to sit on his sofa, listening to her walking around his place.

Soon, the noise stopped. In fact the place was suspiciously silent. This made him get up to investigate. He didn't have to go far because when he made it to the kitchen he found her leaned over the counter with his phone. When she looked up and saw him she jumped.

"What are you doing with my phone?"

"Sorry, I was trying to transfer some photos I took with yours awhile ago to mine now that I won't have access to yours any longer," she nervously answered.

"Okay but you should've asked me. I know if you've been through my photos, you found some of Lily. I'm telling you right now if they show up on the web I'll know who the culprit is," he warned, taking that opportunity to delete them.

"Oh please, I'm not going to expose the daughter of Shawn Michaels... _publicly_ ," she scoffed. "Anyway, I have everything so I guess this is goodbye."

"Cathy, you know we can still be friends," he offered.

She turned around to walk away. "They say if two former lovers can remain friends, it's because they either never loved each other or they still do."

* * *

"You know you can ride in first class with me, right? No one will suspect we're together," Shawn said as he walked five steps behind Lily at the airport.

"I know, Daddy, but I prefer to be amongst my peers," she replied over her shoulder. "Plus, I'm new. I don't want to come across as arrogant riding up front like I'm a big deal or something."

"Do you even have _peers_ beside Finn who isn't here?" he asked, those words made Lily stop dead in her tracks.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because he's the only peer I see you around," Shawn replied.

"It may seem that way but the keyword is _see_. I'm around many others but you don't get a chance to _see_ it. 80% of life on the road takes place in a car. I ride with him so naturally I spend most of my time around him," she shrugged, trying to come across as cool as possible.

She heard him sigh behind her. "I guess you're right."

Lily's phone rang. She fell back a little watching her father get lost in the crowd before answering. "Hello gorgeous."

"So I talked to Cathy…" Finn began.

"And?" Lily anxiously prompted him to continue.

"Well…." he stalled, leaving her in more suspense.

"Oh God, if she's pregnant work it out because I'm too young to be a mother. I'm definitely too young to be a stepmother," Lily shook her head.

He laughed. "Neither of us has that to worry about. It's over."

"Oh. How did she take it?"

"Very well," he said. "I was shocked."

"Do you really believe that? She's either faking it or plotting…"

"Plotting? No, not Cathy," he sounded in disbelief.

"We'll see won't we? Hell has no fury…" Lily replied. "Hey, I'm getting ready to go through TSA. I'll call you back later when this flight lands in 525,600 minutes."

"You've seen Rent?"

"No, Glee coincidentally in tribute to the death of this character named Finn…"

Lily was stiff and worn out by the time their flight landed in Australia. And she thought the flight from China was long.

She had absolutely no energy when she made it to her room. She fell face first into her pillow and that's where she stayed until she heard a knock on the adjoining door in her room. She walked over and opened it, there stood Shawn. Now she realized that it was a good thing Finn wasn't there because there was no way she'd be able to sneak him in her room and she'd be too afraid to sneak out into his room.

"Tired?" Shawn asked, leaning in the door frame.

"Exhausted, weary, fatigued, drained and every synonym of the word," Lily groaned. "Does it get any easier?"

"No, baby, this is just the beginning," he informed. "That time off that you recently had? I hope you enjoyed it because once Michaels gets added to your name it's going to be a long time before you can kick your feet up again. You're going to be just like Ashley."

"That's the thing though, I don't want to be like Ashley. She's a 7 time champion in 3 years and has participated in every stipulation match there is. What's left for her to do? I don't want to get too much too soon. I'm already going to have my last name working against me, I don't want to get overexposed and _really_ give the fans a reason to hate me."

"Yeah, I have to remember that this is a different audience. From what I see, this idea of yours is working out so I trust you to make the right decisions about the direction of your career," he replied.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to come in for a while?"

Lily nuzzled into his side like she did when she was a child. He was a great wrestler, better father. Some generational kids barely saw their fathers but Shawn made sure to spend time with her when he was home, no matter how short the time was.

"Hunter is going forward with the reveal at Evolution," Shawn said. "You're going to call Natty out the Monday leading up to it. The finish will be screwy of course, my theme hits, we walk away together leaving everyone in suspense. The next night at Raw, we come out as father and daughter in a joint promo."

"Cool! I think I'm ready. I just hope they don't have me saying anything tasteless to Nattie about her dead father like they had Paige do to Charlotte when she spoke about Reid's death without Ashley's knowledge."

"I already spoke to Hunter and they're going to do you justice," he replied. "I'm ready proud of you."

"For now…" Lily muttered.

"What do you mean for now?"

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you," Lily sniffled, feeling tears build in her eyes.

"Honey, you could never disappoint me," Shawn answered almost instantly, smoothing a lock of hair from in front of her face. "Ever."

"Are you sure about that?" Lily whispered softly.

"Lily, are we still talking about your wrestling career or something else?"

"We'll talk when the time comes," Lily yawned, her eyes closing.

* * *

Finn held his phone to his ear, listening to it ring. When the ringing stopped he spoke. "It's been 525,60...and 1 minutes."

"What?" Shawn said on the other end. If there was ever a time for a record scratch sound effect, it was now.

"Oh, I, uh, Lily complained about the length of the flight so it was a joke," Finn cleared his throat. This probably was the most painfully awkward moment of his life.

"Yeah, she actually didn't want to go because of the flight but I told her it was just apart of the business. Kid fell asleep soon after she made it to the room. I was on my way out when her phone vibrated. I saw it was you and went ahead and slid it," Shawn explained.

Finn decided to dismiss himself. "Okay, well, I'll try again later."

"Hey, you got a minute? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Sure…" Finn replied cautiously.

"Give me a second to get back to my room," Shawn said. After a few minutes he spoke again. "I'm worried about my daughter."

"W-why?"

"I don't know. Something is off about her. She was home for two weeks and it wasn't because she missed us because she barely came out of her room. Then today she's crying on my shoulder about me being disappointed with her and it seemed personal. You're around her more than anyone else these days and I was hoping you'd be able to shed some light on what's been going on," Shawn's tone of voice was riddled with concern.

Finn felt guilty knowing that the cause of Lily's behavior change probably had to do with their newfound relationship. Shawn sounded like a worried, distressed father. Finn wondered if he came clean and had a man to man talk would Shawn understand. Who was he kidding? The lies were becoming to much for him but to protect himself and Lily, he had to keep it going. "She hasn't really been talking to me a lot, either. I'm guessing she's stressed being an 18 year old thrown into this lifestyle. Plus the added pressure of being a Michaels might be taking a toll on her as well."

"Yeah, I figured that much but it feels like there's something else going on in addition to that. Has she mentioned anything about one of the boys?"

"N-no sir. She hasn't," Finn felt hot knowing Shawn was getting warmer.

"Okay, have any of the boys mentioned anything about her?" Shawn questioned.

"They comment on her looks but that's about it. As far as I know there haven't been any interactions. Well besides-"

"Who?" Shawn cut in.

"Dolph but there's no need to worry. I nipped that in the bud and he hasn't spoken to her since."

"Dolph?" Shawn hissed. "How old is that bastard? A man is always going to chase a pretty woman but have the decency enough to make sure she's age appropriate."

"Ziggler is one year older than me. 38," Finn sighed, knowing now that his age alone would prevent Shawn from approving of their relationship.

"Shameful," Shawn said with disdain that Finn felt to his core. "Well, I guess I'll let you go."

"Alright, Shawn. I'm sure things will get better. Take care," Finn ended the call.

He didn't regret what's happened between them but after speaking with Shawn he did regret how they went about it. Her mom hated him and Shawn would no doubt hate him. There had to have been a better way. Maybe they should've remained friendly and a year from now he could've formally asked Shawn's permission to date her but it was too late.

* * *

Lily woke abruptly when the lights popped on. She didn't know what time it was but it wasn't nearly time to get up. She felt the covers being snatched off of her body. Squinting her eyes open, she saw Shawn standing over her. "Daddy, what are you doing? What time is it?"

"The only question that needs to be answer is what is this bullshit I'm reading?" he asked thrusting his phone in her face.

Lily sat up, rubbing her eyes before taking the phone from him. Her eyes widened at the title. 'Male and Female WWE Superstars dating?'

' _Fans were left with many questions after NXT backstage and social media correspondent, Cathy Kelley unfollowed boyfriend Finn Balor and deleted all references to their relationship. We just received a tip that the driving force of their split was caused by new Female Superstar, Lily. Our source reportedly spotted them kissing backstage at Raw._

Lily knew for a fact that the kissing part was a lie. Neither of them were careless enough to engage in public displays of affection. But someone knew something.

"Well?" Shawn promoted.

"It's like you said, bs," she replied, tossing his phone to the side.

"Is it?" he sternly asked.

"Yes, it is. In 2018, the public can't accept a couple splitting amicably. There always has to be drama. When there isn't any, some is made up. You know how it is. If a male and female superstar are in the same room, they're dating. Thanks to fans in the parking lot taking pictures, it's a known fact that Finn and I travel together. They inserted me into this mess to make it juicy, I guess," Lily replied, surprised at how well she strung it together.

"What you said makes a lot of sense. However, I think you're spending too much time with Finn, baby. The reveal couldn't have come at a better time. You were only riding with him because I couldn't trust anyone else with your identity and watching over you. You can try to ride with those two indy girls," he suggested.

"Della and Marina are both older than me and have lives of their own," Lily argued.

"The same can be applied to Finn," Shawn pointed out. "I think you should try to venture out and make other friends. I don't know, I just don't like the thought of you and him traveling alone together. You're beautiful and he's a handsome guy. I just don't want either of you, _mainly you_ , to get confused."

"There's nothing to be confused about. He has a girlfriend," she said. That was true but it wasn't Cathy. Although they haven't talked about official titles, she knew they were a couple. A guy isn't going to talk about marriage and weddings, even jokingly with someone he viewed as simply a fuckbuddy or friends with benefits.

"According to the article, they broke up…"

"Well obviously that article is filled with lies. They're off and on so even if they are off, they'll be back on tomorrow," Lily crossed her fingers behind her back, not wanting to speak a Finn, Cathy reunion into existence.

And if they were still together exactly what does that mean to a wrestler on the road 300 days a year?" Shawn chuckled, shaking his head. "You have a lot to learn about life on the road."

"Finn is not like that?" she stated.

"How would you know? Traveling with the guy for a couple of months makes you an expert? _This_ is what I meant when I said confusion. If you keep traveling with him I'm afraid you'll develop googly eyes for him and I'll have to kill him if he reciprocated," Shawn declared with an eerily straight face. "But thankfully I don't have to worry about him crossing that line."

"Right," Lily's throat was dry as she swallowed.

"And why the hell didn't you tell me about Ziggler coming on to you?"

"Dad, it's…" she paused, clicking her phone. "...3:20 AM. I'm sure we can talk about this at an appropriate hour."

* * *

 **Monday before Evolution**

"Don't take this the wrong way…" Nattie began. "I don't mind working with you at all but I'm failing to see the point of a rematch all these weeks later. The original rematch was to determine whether I could beat you or not I'm sure you winning would've landed you a spot on Raw. You already have a spot now."

"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "Maybe to give all of us something to do."

"I guess," Nattie relented before walking out with Ronda.

"Are you ready?" Hunter asked Lily from behind. "Up until this point the only time you've spoken was backstage in pretaped segments. You'll be cutting this promo live in front of the audience."

"...and I wasn't nervous until this very moment," Lily cringed.

"You'll be fine," Hunter handed her a mic. He pressed a button on his headset. "You can play Lily's theme now."

Lily received a decent crowd reaction when she walked out. She didn't go any further than the ramp. She pulled a piece of folded paper from her back pocket and cleared her throat into the mic.

"Ronda Rousey is an Olympian, has a black belt in Judo, had one of the most impressive streaks in history, she's a UFC Hall of Famer and she's now the Raw Women's Champion," Lily read before balling the paper up. "With a resume like that I'm sure the baddest woman on the planet doesn't need or require a bodyguard, a shadow, a tutor or a cheering squad with her every time she comes out to the ring. That'll free up you Nattie who I have unfinished business with. I challenge you to a match at Evolution."

Nattie and Ronda huddled in the ring for a discussion in which Ronda was clearly encouraging Nattie to take the match. Nattie grabbed a mic. "I accept."

Later that night at the hotel, Lily groaned as she cracked the bathroom door open. She stuck her hand out. "Finn, can you hand me that box of tampons out of my bag?"

"Sure," he replied. She heard him rummaging through her things and finally he shoved the box in her hand.

She situated herself before swinging the door open. "The timing couldn't be any worse."

Finn looked up and smiled. "Holy shit."

"Thanks," she looked down at herself wearing his leather jacket on top of her naked breast. "I was supposed to have a leather thong on instead of period panties. I don't think the universe wants us to have sex again. The Monday after Australia my dad was there. The Monday after that you fell asleep before I got out of the shower. This Monday I get an unwelcome visit."

"The Universe or your Mom? Notice she makes you come home for the weekend house shows…"

"Omg, and she said it herself that she knows when it's my time of the month!" Lily gasped. "I've been playing checkers this whole time while she's been playing chest!"

"Never underestimate the power of a housewife," he shook his head. "So judging by that segment tonight, it's finally time. Are you ready?"

"I think so. I'm getting chills just thinking about it," she rubbed her arms. "I know I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do to the girls in the locker room but a lot of things will make sense to them now."

"Whatever happens, I'm going to be waiting for you behind the curtains when you return."

"Really? You're going to be there? An all women's pay per view is kind of like a free day for you men."

"Most of us are going to be backstage actually and even if they weren't. I was going to be there to support my girl," he leaned down to kiss her. "You're going to have to recycle this look in 3 to 5 days."

* * *

"Didn't expect to see you here Shawn," someone said in passing backstage at Evolution.

The night was finally here. Shawn was finally going to debut his daughter as a Michaels.

"Shawn, let's step into my office," Hunter looked panicked and Shawn immediately wondered what was wrong.

"What's going on?" Shawn asked.

"Just keep walking, Shawn," Hunter replied. Shawn followed him into the office. "I think you should sit down for this. I received this information earlier and wrestled with myself on whether or not I should tell you right away or wait until after the show is over."

"Hunter, what?!" Shawn was becoming frustrated with the dramatics.

Hunter's chest rose and fell with a sigh. "I got a visit from Cathy earlier."

"Who? Oh, Finn's sometimes girlfriend," Shawn acknowledged. "What about her."

"Not anymore apparently. She seemed very concerned and when she showed me the screenshots she took and sent to herself from Finn's phone, I saw why."

"Screenshots of what? Where are you going with this and what the hell does it have to do with me?"

"A lot to do with you since the screenshots were of conversations between Finn and Lily. There were some explicit photos as well but I decided to delete those," Hunter revealed, sliding his phone across the table to Shawn.

Shawn's hands were shaking as he scrolled through the screenshots. When they first began texting things were tame and over time they became flirty and soon they were full blown sexting.

One conversation stood out to him. The night of Hell in a Cell.

 **Finn: How are you feeling?**

 **Lily: Still a little sore but only when I sit down. I still can't believe I'm not a virgin anymore.**

 **Finn: What's up with your mom? Has she cooled down some?**

 **Lily: Nah. She's going to make me stay home for awhile probably hoping that you move on and I forget about you. No chance. The important thing is she's not going to tell Dad.**

Shawn slammed Hunter's phone down. Everything was so clear now. Finn spent the night in their home. The next morning Lily was washing bloody sheets. The reason Lily spent two weeks at home. He felt like such a fool.

Shawn's body was churning fire, ready to explode. His blood was boiling with rage, eyes flashing with anger as he stood. "I'm going to go find this motherfucker."

"No, Shawn," Hunter stood to stop him. "You're going to cause a scene."

"I don't give a fuck!" He shouted, irritated that Hunter would drop this kind of bombshell and expect him to remain calm.

"Please remember that this is a historic night. Women from the past, present and future are here. You can't ruin their night," Hunter tried to reason with him.

"You either get him in here and we handle it privately or I go out there and find him myself. The choice is yours," Shawn told him, obstinately.

* * *

Finn listened to the guys make their comments and predictions for the night.

"10 botches and 3 injuries."

"That actually sounds like best case scenario to me. More than 8 matches on the card, there's going to be at least 2 botches in each…"

Finn rolled his eyes. Even with all the changes the women have seen over the years, some of the guys were still as misogynistic as ever. They were just better at hiding it.

"What's going to be the match of the night?" Dolph inquired.

"Io vs Toni Storm or Becky vs Charlotte" someone said.

"Probably but Lily vs Nattie is going to steal the show I think," Finn added.

"A throwaway match is going to steal the show?" Dolph raised a brow.

"Maybe not the match but the story," Finn clarified. "I'm telling you. This is the match everyone is going to be talking about tomorrow, hell probably all next week."

"What story? The story was Lily, a local talent beating a veteran Nattie. This match will benefit neither. Lily wins, she's already on the roster so who cares. Nattie wins, she beat a rookie still who cares?" Dolph scoffed. "I know you have confidence in your little girlfriend but bring it down a notch."

Finn opened his mouth to answer but his phone dinged.

 **HHH: Step over to my office.**

 **Finn: Omw.**

When he arrived, he knocked but no one said anything which he felt was weird considering Triple H just texted him. He knocked again to the same result so he turned the knob to let himself in.

Shawn and Triple H were seated as the stared at him. He could read their expressions and they weren't happy to see him. The energy in the room felt tense. Only one reason came to mind for this meeting.

" _Fergal Devitt_ , come take a seat," H motioned to the chair beside Shawn who was yet to speak.

"I'm okay standing here," he replied. "What's this about?"

"Why the rush? It's not like you're wrestling tonight," H said.

"Might not be _able_ to wrestle tomorrow night either," Shawn mumbled. He cleared his throat and looked Finn straight in the face. "I want you to look me in my eyes and confirm what I already know."

"What do you know?" Finn knew the answer but he'd do anything to stall. There was probably nothing he could say or do that would placate Shawn. He'd just have to accept his fate.

"I want you to look me in my eyes and confirm that you've been messing around with my daughter this entire time right under my nose. Then confirm that you had sex with her right under my own goddamn roof," Shawn's voice was venomous.

"Shawn, let me explain…"

"There isn't a goddamn thing you can explain to me besides where I should strike first: your eyes, nose, mouth or dick," Shawn shot back.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Finn takes a hand roughly through his hair. "I never wanted to get involved with Lily and I hate that the line was crossed."

"Let me see those screenshots again," Shawn snatched the phone and cleared his throat to read. " _When are you coming back on the road…I'm dying to taste you again._ That sound like hate to you?"

"Nope," H shook his head.

"My daughter was virgin! I bet you bragged about that, huh? Did you display her panties like a trophy. The daughter of Shawn Michaels is probably the ultimate conquest," Shawn ranted.

Finn shook his head. "Nothing could be farther from the truth."

"What is the truth?"

"The truth is, I-"

Shawn didn't give him the opportunity to finish because he interrupted him with his fist. The pain was searing and Finn immediately grabbed his mouth. He pulled his palm away and saw blood. Seeing the blood only seemed to incite Shawn and be delivered a few more pounds to Finn's face.

Finn didn't attempt to fight back. Of course he could've easily warded off a 53 year old man but Finn felt he'd disrespected Shawn enough. This is probably what he deserved. Finn found himself on the floor trying to take cover which gave Shawn opportunity to kick his chest and abs.

"That's enough Shawn!" Triple H yelled.

Shawn paused momentarily. "Hopefully the day doesn't come for a long, long time but until you know the pain of finding out that some guy preyed on your daughter, you don't get to tell me when it's enough!"

* * *

"Let me get a good look at you," Ric said, holding Lily by the shoulders. "Yeah, you're Shawn's daughter alright. You're beautiful just like your mother. You'll have to fill out up top a little more to match her though."

"Dad!" Charlotte hissed, embarrassed. "I am so sorry, Lily. He's too old and set in his ways to care about harassment. Where's your dad? We can take a group photo."

"That's a good question," Lily replied. "We'll catch up with you guys after the show. I need to go search for him now."

Lily was so hype with excitement. Imagining the pop when her father's theme hit sent goosebumps across her body. She went on in two matches so she needed to go touch base with him. She knew exactly where to find him. Hunter's office.

When she made it to the door, she heard bumping and what sounded like grunts. Lily opened the door to find Shawn standing over Finn's body.

"What is this? Stop!" Lily got down on her knees and crawled over to him. He appeared to be knocked out cold and she moved his head into his lap. "Finn, are you okay? Dad, why did you do this?!"

"You know good and damn well why!" Shawn growled.

If Finn's battered body wasn't enough of a sign, Shawn's tone and expression confirmed it. He knew. "Dad, I know you're mad at both of us but you didn't need to resort to violence."

"Okay, sweetheart, what would be the appropriate reaction?" he asked. "Let's not even get started on you. You've been lying to me this entire time. I know now what those tears in Australia were about and hell yeah I'm disappointed in you. You've deceived me. I've given you everything you've ever wanted your entire life including a walk into WWE free card and you repay me by spreading your legs for him like a common whore in the house I raised you in!"

"Shawn!" Hunter exclaimed as Lily began crying.

Finn groaned, regaining consciousness. His swelling eyes blinked open. "Lilith."

"I'm so sorry. I knew there was always a chance he'd be mad but I didn't know he'd react this way," Lily apologized.

"Mad? React this way?" Shawn scoffed. "You better be lucky my rifles are almost 2,000 miles away!"

"He's still got it at least," Finn's smile spread across his face slower than usual. It resembled a grimace with blood stains ruining the gleam.

"This isn't funny. You should see what he did to you!"

"Trust me, I can feel it."

"What _I_ did to _him_?" Shawn appeared to be in disbelief. "I respected him, I've praised him over the years and I thought highly of him. I trusted him more than anyone in that locker room with your safety only for him to betray me in my own home that I invited him into. I gave him my beers, my food, my hospitality but he had to take it a step further and take my daughter too! I confided in him about you while he was probably holding back laughter with that Joker smile. I bet this was his plan all along. He's already irrelevant because what does he do besides smile, do that stupid pose and occasionally play dress up with paint. He couldn't even get booked in Australia! When he's finally irrelevant enough to be released, his shoot interview and book will sell thousands of copies just to read in black and white the tale of how he seduced and bedded the daughter of Shawn Michaels."

"I have no intention on telling any story on Lily. If I did, everyone would've known her identity the minute she walked backstage," Finn defended himself.

"And he didn't seduce me! If anything, I seduced him!" Lily added.

"Lies! You don't have to protect him!" Shawn said.

"It's the truth! What happened in our house was all me. He was minding his own business in your narcissist room when _I_ approached _him_. He just had a moment of weakness and couldn't say no."

"Even if that's true, it's no excuse. You are a child, _he_ should've known better. He was quick to tell me about Ziggler but I bet not even Dolph would knowingly betray me like this. Do you want to know why Finn had a moment of weakness? This!" Shawn stomped Finn in the crotch area, causing him to cry out.

"Shit!" Hunter hissed as if he felt it. "Shawn, that's enough and I mean it this time. I'm not saying it as your friend, I'm saying it as the Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative and Live Events. No matter what he's done, he's one of my wrestlers therefore it's my job to make sure he's okay."

"Daddy, I know you're upset with me but please calm down before your segment! We go on soon," Lily pleaded.

"I don't have a segment tonight," Shawn shook his head.

"Yes you do to reveal that you're my father!"

"I don't know the girl I'm staring at right now. I refuse to claim you as a daughter of mine until I recognize you again," Shawn reached for the doorknob.

"Shawn, wait!" Hunter stepped from behind his desk.

"Daddy, please!" Lily begged.

Shawn shook his head, backing out of the room.

"Is he serious?" Lily's head turned to Hunter.

"What do you think?! Lily, how could you do this to him. Shawn was still popping pills and doing drugs until he found out that he was expecting a baby girl. _You._ Lily, you saved his life just to kill him all these years later. Maybe he was right to keep you away from this business if this was the first thing you'd accomplish. I don't understand why-" Hunter trailed off as a match ended on screen. "You have to get to gorilla!"

"I still have to go out there?"

"Yes, you do," he nodded. "It's like I told you before, the show always goes on."

"H, she's not experienced enough to suppress her emotions out there yet," Finn said.

"You stay out of it. You've caused enough trouble," Hunter scolded. "Lily is not experienced enough to do a lot of things yet she still did."

"But..." Lily couldn't see her face but she knew her eyes were puffy.

"Try not to think about it and you'll be fine," Finn weakly offered his support.

"I'd say you have about three minutes," Hunter looked at his watch.

"Where were you?" Nattie was pacing back and forth when Lily entered gorilla.

"I was with Triple H," she replied.

"Oh, did he reveal the payoff to this match yet because I'm still confused."

"No," Lily sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

"Tonight is overwhelming, I know," Nattie rubbed her back in a show of support.

"You don't know the half of it…" Lily sighed as her theme started. It felt like she was walking to her death. Every step felt like she was lifting a stone with her foot. Neither was a heel in this feud but the way Lily failed to smile or interact with the fans probably made her appear to be one.

Soon Nattie joined her in the ring. They locked up and Nattie got the upper hand, pushing Lily into the corner where she remained. Normally, Lily would've gotten up on her on but Nattie walked over and pulled her up, trying to engage her into action.

"Lily, what are you doing?" Nattie discreetly whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"I can't do this," Lily shook her head. She rolled out of the ring and started running toward the back. She heard the crowd muttering in confusion wondering what was happening.

Hunter was waiting for her behind the curtain. "I'm sorry for sending you out there. Making you go through with the match was my way of punishing you but as soon as I saw you during your entrance I knew it was a mistake. Leave and go back to the hotel before people start asking questions."

"Are you going to fire him?"

"I should and I'm sure that's going to be Shawn's next request but looking at it from a business standpoint, I can't. Finn has a very large fanbase, he sells merch, image wise his Bálor Club for Everyone is a great campaign and we still haven't used the Bullet Club thing to it's full potential yet. He's just too big of an asset to lose with New Japan on the rise and trying to expand to the US," Hunter rationalized. "He's in no condition to wrestle so I've pulled him from Raw and the weekend houseshows."

Lily wanted to get in and out of the locker room as quickly as possible because she knew there were going to be questions that she unfortunately _still_ couldn't answer.

"Was that part of the storyline or what?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah," Lily absentmindedly replied as she zipped her suitcase. She rolled the bag behind her, pausing in front of Della. "You were right about my dad's reaction."

"Oh shit. Are you okay? More importantly is Devitt still alive?"

"Neither of us are okay and yes, he's still alive for now," Lily shook her head.

Nattie was at the door when Lily opened it to leave. "Did Triple H change the match again without my knowledge?"

"This has nothing to do with Triple H. I'm sorry. One day I'll be able to explain this and everything else but not tonight," she said before breaking into tears.

The other women started crowding around her in a show of concern but while she appreciated them, it felt claustrophobic. "I-I-I-I have to go."

Lily kept her head down as she walked and didn't stop until she ran into a body. "Oh, Mr. McMahon."

"Why did you leave the ring? I read the notes from your match in advance and no where did it mention any of what I saw," he replied. "Where's Shawn?"

" _Shawn_ has disowned me," Lily's voice came out as sad as her demeanor appeared.

"What?" Vince frowned. "Did he say that?"

"He said he didn't recognize me which is basically the same thing."

"What happened?"

"I'm sure Hunter will tell you later..."

"Balor?"

Lily's brows rose. "You know?"

"I know _everything_ about _everything_ that goes on in my company. I also know first hand how Shawn feels right now. Stephanie put me through it many times in her teen years. Do you think I was happy when I found out about Stephanie and H? Hell no but look at them now," he replied. "I eventually came around and so will Shawn."

Lily knocked on the hotel door and waited. Finn opened it. She could tell he was freshly showered because he had a towel around his waist and his wet hair was stuck to his forehead. His body was marked from Shawn's assault and the many bruises on his face were starting to darken.

"Hello _Grotesque_. Look at you," she reached up to touch his face and he grimaced in pain. "Sorry."

"Whatever was physically done to me by Shawn tonight will heal in a week's time. Can't say the same about what I did to Shawn mentally," he replied.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"After what happened tonight, do you really want to?"

"I know I should stay away but I can't be alone right now," Lily sounded dejected so Finn stepped aside.

"Have you talked to Shawn since he left?"

"No, I haven't attempted to contact him. Honestly, I'm scared."

"I don't blame you but then again, I don't blame him for his reaction either."

"Hey, whose side are you on?" she lightly nudged him. "I'm sorry."

"No, _I'm_ sorry," he said.

Lily chuckled. "I guess we're both sorry."

"I guess we are," he smile, his teeth back clean and white. "But I'm sorrier. It was me who offered you to ride knowing that I was attracted to you and it's me who owns the willy that penetrated you. I'm sure you would've eventually said yes to Marina's offer because you wouldn't have had any other options. If none of this happened, at this very moment you would be the talk of the wrestling world because the reveal would've gone on as planned."

"I'm probably _still_ the talk of the wrestling world after my dramatic exit out there tonight. I suppose it can be written as intentional somehow tomorrow at Raw. Maybe a rookie chokes on the biggest night of her career story or something."

"I was going to be waiting for you behind the curtain just like I said I would but Triple H made me leave and I was in no shape to argue. Apparently they're going to write me off as having a concussion from the Saturday house show. Actually, there's a chance I legit have one."

"I appreciate you for not hitting my father back. He's still in decent shape for a 53 year old but his body is worn down from years of wrestling. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken you much effort to drop him if you really wanted to."

"Yeah, but I wasn't going to injure my father in law especially now that he's on his comeback tour. He'd never come to accept me then," Finn laughed. Hearing that made her feel good to know that he was thinking about a future with her still in it

"I told you Cathy was plotting," Lily took on a more serious tone. "I had my suspicions when that article came out about us dating but that could have easily been a fan passing off speculation as fact."

"I didn't believe it when you said it but for them to have screenshots of our messages, there's only one person who could have turned them over. After the break up I caught her with my phone but she gave a logical explanation. One thing that she said didn't stick out to me until now. She said 'I'm not going to expose the daughter of Shawn Michaels... _publicly_ ' and technically she didn't."

"Whether she exposed me publicly or privately, the next time I run into her we're going to have a talk," Lily declared.

"By all means, do what you have to do," he said, giving her his blessing.

"Now that that's settled, I'm going to shower off the tears and disappointment from my skin," she replied, disappearing into the bathroom.

Lily returned to the bedroom, drying herself and brushing her hair when she noticed Finn's towel rising over his crotch. "I'm surprised it still works after that stomp…"

"You know what they say, you can't keep a good cock down," he flirted.

"Where are your jeans or wallet?" she asked looking around the room.

"In my bag," he directed her to the corner. "Why?"

She dug around in his belongings until she found what she was looking for. A condom that she tore open with her teeth. "This!"

"Wait!" he halted her. "I have two concerns. First, do you know how to put it on. This isn't a banana in sex-ed class. Second, do you think this is appropriate? It's the very thing that cause the drama tonight."

"I think the order of importance should be switched on those concerns but whatever. We're already in trouble whether we do it again or not," Lily said as she wrestled with the condom. "Why won't it slide down? Is this the right size?"

"Try pinching the tip," he instructed.

"Sorry, they didn't have sex-ed at my school so I never went through the banana thing. All my sexual knowledge is from 7th grade life science, porn and things my mom told me," she secured the condom down his shaft.

Lily moved to straddle him, lining him up to her entrance. She tried to slide down but couldn't get passed the tip. His size made the process more challenging than she expected. The stretching was a little uncomfortable but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first time. "I think I've gotten ahead of myself."

"Lift off for a second," he asked before probing her with his finger. When he pulled back it was glistening."Well, you're definitely wet enough."

"Are you too hurt to get on top of me?"

"Lilith, this is something you should do on your own. It's better this way because you can control the pace and how much you can take. If I have to do it I'll be afraid of hurting you and I'll stop again."

Finn gently cupped her breasts as she braced her hands on his chest and tried to lower herself once more. A relieved sigh escaped both of their lips as she finally began impailing herself on him.

"That's it. Slowly," he coached her.

As she lifted herself up and down, the pain was replaced by just a hint of pleasure. She smiled down at him, lowering her upper body down to kiss him as he firmly held her hips. She sat back up, riding him as fast and hard as she could. He was deep but she still couldn't get those last two stubborn inches inside of her but that was okay for now.

Finn groaned, muttering incoherent words of encouragement. She could feel sexual pressure building inside of her and knew she was on the edge of her first penetrative orgasm. She felt herself contracting around him and he sucked in a sharp breath. He sat up so that they were chest to chest as he bounced her in his lap. Lily assumed he meant to kiss her but he didn't get any further than panting into her mouth.

Finally she came, clamping down on Finn making it difficult for him to thrust. He didn't need too. With his face red and sweaty like he'd wrestled a 1 hour iron man match, his muscles tensed and he strained as he came.

He collapsed back down on a pillow, his eyes immediately closed as he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

When Lily woke the next morning, Finn and his bags were gone. _Weird_. Once she grabbed her phone she saw that she had a lot of notifications from Twitter and Instagram. She just assumed it was about her match, if it could be called a match, last night. She cleared them and went to her texts.

 **Finn: Sorry, had to leave earlier and didn't want to wake you. I'm going back to Ireland for a few days.**

Now it was time to see what the fans were chatting about. She bypassed social media and Googled herself. The first linked that popped up stopped her heart.

 _ **Breaking: Female Superstar is WWE Legend's daughter.**_

 _The audience last night at Evolution was left confused when Lily abruptly exited the ring during the first minute of her match against Natalya. We don't have an explanation for that yet but we just found out where the angle is heading._

 _This morning we received a leaked video of an interview with Lily and her father, Shawn Michaels._

Lily recognized the video as the sit down interview she did with her father with Cathy. _Cathy._ This had to be her.

The interview played as it went until the abrupt end.

 _"Really, Dad?" Lily muttered. She looked at Cathy. "Are we live?"_

"No, they're planning on doing a press release next week to announce your signing with the photoshoot and this interview," Cathy informed.

"Good," Lily sighed. "Can we take a break?"

They walked off camera but they were still mic'd so every word was picked up. Everything played but things that made her look bad stuck out the most.

 _"What's the matter with you?" Shawn asked, raising his voice as he pulled Lily to the side. "This is what you wanted, now you have it but once the camera starts rolling you act like an uncooperative brat?"_

"I'm not the only one who changed once the camera came around," Lily shot back. "Your opening statement was perfect and then you went into me coming to you? Really? I remember things going a lot differently. You should've quit while you were ahead. I'm not okay with lying and I'm not okay sitting back listening to you lie."

" _But why? How does it look on a night dedicated to empowering women to rehash a feud older than me with 2 decrepit old men standing in our corners."_

 _"If we're going to do the Shawn Michaels' daughter thing and the Natalya feud, I want to do it my way."_

Lily made the mistake of scrolling down to the comments:

 _It finally makes sense. I just assumed she sucked off someone in management to get her spot. But given the old rumors about Shawn, he probably did the sucking for her._

 _2 decrepit old men? God, who raised this disrespectful little cunt? Oh wait..._

 _What an entitled brat! Yep, she's definitely a Michaels._

 _Great, Triple H is going to shoot his best friend's kid to the moon. She demanded this angle and he gave it to her._

 _Can't wait until her feud with Charlotte. Giant overpushed blonde with famous last name vs Mini overpushed blonde with famous last name. And the crowd goes mild._

 _I have to give it to WWE for keeping this under wraps. I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to go down like this so the reveal would've been epic. We had no idea._

 **NatbyNature: I'm just as shocked as everyone else. I had absolutely no knowledge of Lily's background or where our angle was headed.**

Her mentions were in shambles so she decided to make a statement:

 **LilyWWE: The LEAKED video/audio you heard today is not a reflection of me as a person, a daughter or a wrestler. In context, I was frustrated with the cookie cutter 'legend's daughter' angle which caused my reaction. I have nothing but respect for my father, this business and Bret Hart.**

Her statement only seemed to make things worse. She finally caved in, locking her Twitter account and turning off her comments on Instagram.

Someone already updated her Wikipedia profile. Her previously nondescript page was now filled. _Lily Hickenbottom (born July 21, 2000) is an American wrestler currently signed to WWE where she performs on Raw under the ring name Lily. She is the daughter of Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels._

The first person she thought to call was her dad...straight to voicemail. She tried her mom...no answer. Hunter...no answer. She knew Finn was probably still on his flight home and didn't bother.

Lily had never felt so alone. She was helpless in the midst of this crisis. She knew what she had to do next which was book a flight to San Antonio.


	7. Deportation

"What the hell?" Lily was surprised when she tried the key to the front door of her San Antonio home, the lock wouldn't turn. She rang the doorbell and seconds later her mom answered.

She looked as if she hadn't sleep the entire night. "Yeah, after he ranted at me for keeping this from him, he changed the locks. I was trying to stop him when you called this morning which is why I couldn't answer."

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess," Lily said and her mom nodded in acceptance of Lily's apology. "He beat up Finn and said I acted like a common whore."

"Oh Lily," her mom pulled her in for a hug which was Lily's cue to cry. "He was just upset but it was still unnecessary. He didn't mean it."

"I know. I know," Lily acknowledged, looking around. "I've never seen him so angry before. Is he here?"

"No. He left after he changed the locks. I tried calling but his phone was turned off. He didn't take a bag with him so he can't be gone too far."

Lily yawned. "I'm going to my room for a bit. I'm really tired."

"Yeah, I think you should get some rest. I'm sure you had a rough night. I'll try to have lunch on the table by the time you're ready to come out…"

Lily didn't know how many hours of sleep she got but it wasn't enough because she was still tired. Her phone rang. She quickly grabbed it with fumbling hands hoping that it was Finn but it was just Della. Lily sent it to voicemail only for it to ring again seconds later. Sighing, she slid the bar to answer. "Hello."

"Hey, you're on speaker. We're all in the locker room together backstage," Della said.

"Why so they can each take turns telling me how mad they are at me?"

"Mad? For what? All you did was keep quiet to avoid jeopardizing your storyline. We're calling to check on you because you obviously weren't okay last night and then your secret leaks in a very unflattering way."

"I'm just glad to finally be able to make sense of all this," a voice in the background that she recognized as Sasha said.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for accusing your father of having romantic interest in you and I'm sorry for the comment I made about his eye," Liv apologized

"I'm not particularly happy about you calling my cancer survivor uncle decrepit but all in all, I got the point you were trying to make," Nattie replied.

"We know the Lily we heard on the tape is not the Lily we see in here every Monday. You're not nearly as cutthroat as that video makes you seem," Alexa snorted.

"Okay, you guys aren't mad at me but the fans… They're lighting me up," Lily groaned.

"Oh please. Fans or marks and neckbeards? What _don't_ they hate? You'll drive yourself crazy caring about their opinions," Della scoffed. "I'm guessing you only focused on the negatives. I've been monitoring the situation and if I had to tally the percentages, 60% of the comments are positive, 20 are neutral and the other 20 are negative. When are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure yet," Lily sighed. It was pointless to return without Shawn by her side now that the cat was out of the bag. There was no way they could get away with not addressing it.

"Okay, we'll be here when you get back," Della replied. "Bye."

Lily rolled around in bed until it hit her. She shot up and dug around in her closet until she found a pair of camouflage boots.

Her mom was standing at the stove when Lily ran by. "Where are you going? The food is done."

"I know where dad is and I'm going to find him!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.

"Honey, I don't think that's a good idea," she warily called after her at the door.

Lily ignored her as she ducked into her car. She drove until she came upon Shawn's hunting land. She jumped across a small creek and kept through the trees until she came upon his deer stand high in the sky that she always referred to as a tree house.

Her foot snapped a twig on the ground and Shawn popped up pointing a gun down at her. She yelped in alarm.

"I thought you were a deer," his tone was flat as he dropped his weapon out of view. Lily could see in his face that he was still pissed. "What do you want?"

"To talk to you if you want to climb down…"

"I don't…"

"Okay, I'll come up," Lily didn't make it up two steps before he yelled down at her.

"Stop! I think it's best if we communicate this way and keep our distance," he said. " _Lily, I am so sorry about what I said and did to you. Tomorrow night we can go on with a father-daughter promo as planned_..is what I was going to say to you last night."

"What happened?"

"I felt like shit for speaking to my baby girl that way. I knew my comments were harsh and me taking your big moment away was worse. I talked to Hunter about it and he agreed. I went to your room last night…" he paused and Lily dropped her head knowing where this was headed. "When I knocked you didn't answer. I know how sensitive you are so I panicked. I tried to kick the door in but of course I don't have the lower body strength that I used to have so I settled for calling the front desk. The time it took the clerk to arrive was the longest 4 minutes of my life as images of you hanging from the ceiling or on the bathroom floor with your wrist slit flooded my brain. But when your door was opened, you were nowhere to be found. I knew the next best place to look. I didn't even have to knock because I heard what I needed to hear. Those sounds told me that needed of you are remorseful for what you've done. I made the right decision not to go out there and let you disgrace my legacy!"

Lily was embarrassed but it was time to stand up for herself. "First of all, let's not pretend as if your _legacy_ is squeaky clean. A simple Google search can pull up your 90's dirt. If me being a consenting adult in a relationship is a disgrace to your legacy so be it. What do we even have to be remorseful about besides lying to you? Why can't I live my life, do my own thing and love who I want?"

" _Love_. What the hell do you know about love?" Shawn scoffed, shaking his head. "If you _love_ this guy already it means you're nothing more than a child who clearly isn't ready for an adult relationship."

"I actually meant to say date who I want but if I do come to love him, so what? I already know that I _love_ being around him, I _love_ talking to him, I _love_ his accent, I _love_ his smile and I _love_ feeling the heat in his chest when I sleep on it at night."

"How dare you reference what you do in bed with him? Lily, you're really trying my patience right now," Shawn hissed. "Come to your senses, the guy is damn near 40!"

"Age is nothing but a number. What matters is how the person acts and we're perfect together. I don't think of his age and I'm sure he doesn't think of mine."

Another twig snapped in the distance and Shawn grabbed his gun. "Lily I swear to _God_ if you brought him here."

"What are you going to do? Sacrifice the rest of your life and what's left of your career because you can't handle your daughter growing up?" Lily asked. "You can calm down because Finn is in Ireland right now."

"Good, I hope he's been deported!"

"If he's deported, I'm going to be deported with him! Maybe I'll give him a green card marriage while I'm there so he can come back," Lily smiled, backing away. "I love you, Dad and I know you don't approve but in the end right or wrong, it's my decision to make."

"Lily! Lily!" He yelled as she walked away.

"Awww, do you want to go with me?" Lily asked Frankie when he jumped inside her suitcase. She was on her knees packing when the floor creaked behind her. "Mom, I'm sure Dad has contacted you and instructed you to stop me but I can't. I need to see him even if I have to go to Ireland to do it."

"Don't worry I'm not going to stop you. My original issue with _Him_ was his age and what you two did that night escalated the matter. I was keeping you apart to avoid what happened Sunday night but now that it's hit the fan, what's the point? When I met your father he was a drugged out asshole with five or six ring rats in rotation. Everybody said that he was wrong for me but guess what? We fell in love and we still are to this day. Finn's already miles ahead of what I had to work with and he seems like a nice guy. The point is, if Fergal makes you happy, go to him. I'll deal with Shawn."

* * *

After 13 hours when Lily arrived in Bray, County Wicklow, she shivered and scolded herself for not checking the weather before packing. She stopped by the tourist gift shop and picked up an 'I love (with a clover instead of a heart) Ireland' sweater.

 **Lily: I made it.**

 **Mom: Great. Be** **safe. I don't know about the time zone over there but text me every night before you go to bed I don't care how late** **or early it is here**

 **Lily: Will do. Is dad still mad?**

 **Mom: Yep, still pouting**

The people seemed really nice. She didn't feel scared or uncomfortable walking the streets alone. She tried to call Finn but there was no answer which worried her. What if she came all this way and he didn't want to see her?

Lily walked until she noticed a shady looking guy leaning against a wall in a long black coat, smoking a cigarette. "Hi, would you happen to know where Fintan and Leonie Devitt live?"

The guy looked her up and down before blowing a cloud of smoke. "I don't know how things are done in America but here we don't give away information on private citizens to foreign teenagers."

Lily sighed, pulling out her wallet. "How much?"

"40."

"20," Lily replied, taking the bill out of her wallet which he gladly accepted. Lily typed the address into her Google Maps as he gave it.

When Lily came upon the house, she took a deep breath before knocking.

"Hello?" an older blonde lady answered the door.

Lily cleared her throat. "Hi, is Fi... _Fergal_ home?"

"Are you a fan?" her brows knitted in confusion.

"Who's at the door, Leonie?" an older man who looked a lot like Finn joined her side.

"She says she's here to see Fergal."

"I'm a friend of his. He told me that he was coming here and I decided to pay him a visit," Lily said showing them his text.

"A _friend_ of his," his mom clutched her pearls, taking an intense look at Lily's face. "How old are you, dear?"

"I'm 13 and pregnant with his baby. At least I _think_ it's his, that was a long night. I'm here to discuss a hush money settlement. Oh and my parents kicked me out so I'll need shelter as well which is why I have all these bags," Lily replied with a straight face. Finn's mom looked like she was ready to faint. "Just kidding about my age and the pregnancy. I'm 18, I wrestle for WWE and I travel with Fergal on the road. My name is Lily."

His mother blinked in recognition. "Lilith?"

"Yep, that's what he calls me," Lily nodded.

Finn's mom quickly leaned forward to hug her. "Come inside where it's warm."

His dad grabbed her bags. "You got my boy in a lot of trouble but if he thinks you're worth it, so do we."

"Oh, he told you about that…" Lily mumbled feeling awkward.

"We don't keep secrets in the Devitt household," Finn's mom replied.

"Plus when I went to collect him at the airport he looked like a broken soldier so he had to give us an explanation," Finn's dad added.

"I'm sorry that he had to go through that. Obviously I knew my dad wouldn't be too happy but I didn't think he'd attack Fergal. Is he here by the way?" the house sounded quiet and as loud as they were talking if he was there he would've heard them and come out by now.

"No, he likes to get up into the mountains for some alone time when he comes back home," Finn's dad looked down at his watch. "He's been gone for about three hours so I expect him back soon."

"Can I get you anything?" Finn's Mom asked leading her into the kitchen. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Uh, if it's not too much trouble can I have an Irish coffee?" Lily requested.

Finn's mom returned a short while later with a photo album. Then she placed a tray of cookies and the Irish coffee in front of Lily on the dining room table.

"Thanks!" Lily took a big gulp and alcohol unexpectedly burned down her throat. She coughed and Finn's mom hurriedly brought her a glass of water which she sipped greedily. "What was that?"

"An Irish coffee," Finn's mom replied innocently. "Complete with coffee, brown sugar, cream and...Irish whisky."

"Ohhh. On the flight I read a brochure and under things to try in Ireland, Irish Coffee was listed and I assumed that it was regular caffeine…" Lily replied. "I feel so stupid."

"I figured as much but it was payback for your introduction," she laughed. "And don't feel stupid. I'm most certain Fergal will teach you a lot about these things during your stay. Now how about I serve you that again minus the alcohol."

"That'll be fine. Thanks," Lily flipped pages in the photo album until she returned. "Aww, he was so cute. Same smile. Was he a good boy?"

"Oh yes, I never had any trouble out of him Everyone loved Fergal."

"I can see why…"

"He speaks very highly of you and we are excited to have you," Finn's mom said positively and Lily tried not to blush. "Is he expecting you?"

"No, this trip was very spur of the moment. I tried to contact him before my flight and after I landed but he hasn't answered which is strange…"

"It's not strange. He actually doesn't…" Finn's mom trailed off when the front door opened and closed.

"Fergal, there's a girl here to see you," Lily heard Finn's dad say in the living room.

"A girl?" Finn asked.

"Yes, she's 13 and claiming she's pregnant with your baby. She's in there with your mam right now discussing a hush money settlement."

"What?!" Finn shouted, his rapid footsteps echoed on the floors. He looked pissed when he appeared at the dining room entrance but when he spotted Lily his expression smoothed almost instantly into a smile. "Lilith?"

"Hello semi-gorgeous," Lily laughed, acknowledging his bruises.

"Hello yourself," he closed in on her. "Not that I'm complaining but what are you doing here and why are you wearing the most ' _hey, look at me I'm American!'_ tourist sweater you could find?"

"Well, you'd know I was coming if you actually answered my calls or responded to my texts," she replied. "I got off the plane wearing shorts. It was this sweater or the flu."

"Did you get my text?" he raised a brow.

"Yeah, the one that told me you were going home," she nodded.

"No, I sent a long paragraph when I landed covering a lot of things. It also said that I was going off the grid. I like to turn my phone off to avoid the outside world during my first few days home. With our schedule I don't have a lot of time to get back here so on rare occasions that I do, I want the full experience without distraction," he explained. "Do you think I'd ignore you on purpose? I would've been waiting on you at the airport with a bouquet of lilies."

"That's what I was trying to tell to you before he walked in," his mom said.

"Oh, I didn't get that text."

"You'll probably receive it in about 2 weeks at 3 AM when you least expect it. My texts can be delayed sometimes," he chuckled. "I think I was going to eventually cave in and try to contact you. I don't think I can go long without you, hell being away from you for as long as I have has been torture already."

"So I guess if you're offline you've missed the controversy…" she replied.

"There's more?" he snorted.

"The world knows that I'm a Michaels," she smiled bitterly.

"How? Did Shawn say something? Did the script for Evolution leak?"

"No, Dad and I said it together during an interview...with Cathy that _mysteriously_ leaked," Lily didn't need to say anything further because he began shaking his head.

"I can't believe she did this to you. What is she getting out of this because we're not breaking up and let's say we did, I definitely wouldn't go back to a vindictive person like her!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have pushed for you to break things off with her. If you think about it, that's kind of what triggered all of this…"

"No, Lily, you can't blame yourself for this. This was something that I'd have to do eventually anyway if I wanted to get serious with you."

"Yeah, keyword: _eventually_. My dad's reaction probably would've been the same in any timeline but the reveal wouldn't have been tainted and there would've been no reason to leak the interview," she said.

"I have a confession," Finn's mom started. "I only tolerated Cathy because I _thought_ she made you happy."

"It's true," his dad added.

"I never took to her. When she showed up at our doorstep with Fergal, every word of her introduction sounded robotic and a little too perfect like she'd rehearsed it the entire flight. In comparison that 13 and pregnant thing was brilliant...once I knew it was false of course. I do think Lily is a wee bit young but she seems mature enough," Finn's mom stated.

"Let's go to my room," Finn suggested, grabbing Lily by the hand.

"Leave the door open you two," Finn's dad called behind them.

Finn's childhood bedroom reflected his career choice with old wrestling magazines, tapes and DVDs.

Lily turned around when she heard the door snap shut. "But your dad said…"

"He was joking," Finn replied, walking forward to close the distance between them. Their lips met and Finn was much gentler than she expected and didn't use tongue at all. It was also brief as he pulled back to say, "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too. I love your parents. They're so cute and accepting."

"Have you talked to Shawn yet? How's he doing?"

"Yeah, we talked and he's still mad. I'm sure he's petitioning to have your visa revoked as we speak," Lily shook her head.

"Oh, wow. I guess we should give him some time," Finn nodded. "Do they know you're here?"

"Yes. My mom encouraged me to go."

"See, progress," he replied.

Lily began walking around, inspecting his room. She paused when she came upon an old poster of DX from the 90s. She looked at her dad and then she looked at Hunter. "I suppose you're going to tear this down now."

"Why?"

"There's a mirror over there if you want to go look at yourself," Lily pointed.

"One is your father. The other is your godfather. Are you going to stop loving them because of what they do?"

"Well no…"

"Okay, one helped my career in so many ways while I was in NXT so I'll always be grateful. The other was my favorite wrestler growing up and is responsible for your birth so I'm definitely grateful to him. So no, I'm not going to stop being a fan of either."

"Why are you always so happy and positive. The least you could do is match my depression or stop flashing that infectious smile," she grumbled. "I hope your parents don't mind, I brought Frankie along for the trip."

"Where is he?"

"He's in my carrier purse in the living room. He was asleep last I checked."

"Let's go get him," Finn walked out of the room and got down on his knees to put his face in front of the air vent on the side. Frankie violently barked at him.

"Oh, she brought a friend," Finn's mom said before resuming her previous activity.

"Frankie, you're his guest!" Lily scolded. "I think he hates you Fergal."

Finn unzipped the bag and Frankie flew out and jumped on him. Finn began playfully wrestling with him. "I don't think he hates me. He just wants to play. Poor little guy probably hasn't seen this much action since he was separated from his siblings."

"Obviously I'm not rolling around with him on the floor but I'll have you know I play with Frankie all the time," Lily replied.

"Can't tell," Finn teased.

"Fergal, come help out in the backyard," Finn's dad requested. "Bring the pup with you."

"They make you do work around the house?" Lily raised a brow.

"Yeah, we all aren't preppy rich kids," he chuckled.

"No, but you're kind of famous…"

"So are you but you'll help me prepare dinner," Finn's mom told her. "Do you cook?"

"I help my mom if that counts," Lily shrugged.

"That's good enough. Come," she headed back into the kitchen. "I've already had coodle in the oven for hours now."

An hour and a half later the food on the table consisted of coodle, a lot of dishes with potatoes which Lily didn't understand, roasted cabbage, fruit scones and white pudding which Lily was disappointed to find out wasn't pudding at all.

"Oh my god, he's going to kill my dog! Let me call them in," Lily muttered watching Frankie chase Finn around the backyard. She opened the window. "Foods ready."

"Who made the scones?" Finn frowned as he chewed.

"Lily," his mom told him.

"I can tell…"

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"You're really good with desserts. Remember, I had your pie when we were in San Antonio and it was delicious," he smirked.

"Oh yeah," Lily blushed hard at the double entendre.

Finn's parents were long asleep and Finn was fresh out of the shower shirtless in pajama bottoms when Lily crawled over on her knees to tug at the waistband.

She was getting ready to jerk them down when the door suddenly opened. Three heads popped in and Lily shrieked, standing to her feet. It was the other 3 Devitt brothers. All 4 basically had the same face although Finn was the best looking.

"Sorry, we didn't know you had company, Fergal," the first spoke. "Hello."

"Hi," Lily couldn't make direct eye contact after being caught seconds before blowing Finn. She was embarrassed knowing that this would forever be their first impression of her.

"Guys, this is Lilith, my girlfriend. Lilith, these are my brothers," Finn introduced.

"She's beautiful, Fergie," the second said. "It's nice to meet you."

"What happened to Cathy?" the third asked.

"Long story," Finn replied.

"Let's go down to the pub and hear it," he said in return.

"I can't leave Lilith," Finn shook his head.

"She can come, too."

"No, that's okay. I had a long flight and I'm kind of tired," Lily declined, sliding into bed. "But you go ahead, _Fergie_."

Finn shrugged on a shirt before kneeling on the floor beside the bed. "Tomorrow night I swear it's just going to be me, you and Frankie."

"Okay," Lily yawned.

"Judging by that you'll be sleep by the time I return so goodnight," he kissed her forehead and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lily glared at Finn when Frankie whined on the ground. "I told you he wasn't built to walk long, treacherous distances on his own. His paws probably hurt. Back into the bag he goes."

" _Or_ he's hungry. I also don't recall him stopping for a bathroom break since we've been out so that's another possibility. God, if we have a son leave the parenting to me. The lad will be scared of life in your care," he joked.

"Not really, he's going to be a third generation Michaels," Lily said.

Finn stopped in his tracks. "Excuse me?"

"Okay, okay. His real name will be Michael Shawn Devitt. Prince Michael Devitt on the indies and Shawn Balor, The Heartbreak Demon when he goes to WWE."

"Now that sounds better. Congratulations, you've made it to the top of Bray Head," Finn said.

The scenery was breathtaking at the top of the hill. "Wow, it's beautiful."

Lily took her phone out and began snapping various shots of the sights below, Frankie exploring and finally a selfie that Finn tried to inch into. "Don't, I'm posting these on Twitter."

"Oh," he replied, squeezing in closer behind her.

"Ferg! You can't be in the shot," she shifted enough to get him out of the frame.

"Why not?"

"I'm just assuming you don't want to be since Cathy never really posted stuff like this with you…"

"You're not Cathy…"

"You got that right," Lily smiled, snuggling closer to Finn to capture the picture. She captained the shots: ' _ **Lily, Fergie & Frankie take on Bray **__**& I'm not talking Wyatt lol.**_' "Okay, posted. Let the shit show begin."

 _Posting this is not going to distract us from the fact that you're an entitled brat. Now you're an entitled brat and a slut because an article a few weeks ago said you stole him from Cathy! Thanks for confirming._

 _Finn's banging Shawn Michaels daughter. Nice._

 _Are they in a BDSM relationship? Why is Finn so beat up?_

 _Omg, Shawn just unfollowed his own daughter and Finn after she posted the selfie. I guess he doesn't approve._

"I think I'm going off the grid now too," Lily said powering down her phone.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," he agreed, sliding her phone into his pocket.

"So what's next?" she asked. He'd already taken her to Sea Life, a garden and a waterfall.

"We're going to go down the cliff walk to Greystones and then we'll have a Buddha bowl," he replied.

"As long as mine doesn't contain potatoes," she groaned and he laughed in response. "What's up with that anyway?"

"While we take this walk I'm going to tell you about a time when we _didn't_ have potatoes: The Irish Potato Famine," he secured his arm around her shoulder. "After that, I don't know if you'll be into it and it's definitely not romantic but there's somewhere I'd like to visit before we go in for the day."

"Whatever it is, I'm down. Get back in the bag, Frankie before you exhaust yourself," she said picking him up.

"Okay, this is the place I mentioned earlier," Finn said standing outside an indie wrestling promotion. "If you don't want to go in we can just go home."

Lily scoffed. "Why wouldn't I be into our profession? Come on."

Finn received a 'welcome home' chant when he entered and took a seat. The matches were exciting and Lily was really into it.

"Can I have my phone? I want to record some of this."

"Why? The only moves you're allowed to steal are mine. Besides, phones only distract from the experience," he said.

"Technically you're distracting from the experience as well," Lily pointed out.

Finn looked around and more people seemed to be watching and recording him than the action match. Even the wrestlers in the ring were watching for his reaction to their moves. "I think we've seen enough. It's getting late, let's go home."

Lily was curious as they approached an old fashion cottage by the water. "Who does this place belong to?"

"It's mine," he replied, flashing keys.

"Oh, so when you said tomorrow night was just going to be me, you and Frankie this is what you meant," she said, following him inside. It was nice but reflected the home of someone who wasn't around much. It seemed lifeless. She did notice that he had a lot of giraffes and Lego models hanging around including a WWE Championship made of legos.

She walked over to one display that had a Lego Finn painted into his Demon form with a brunette female Lego beside him that she assumed depicted Cathy. "Does the hair pop off?"

"No, but I have a blonde girl and I'll paint her wearing your ring gear," he offered.

"I'd like that," she picked up 'Cathy' and whistled for Frankie who happily ran over. "I got you a new chew toy."

"While he's distracted with that, let's get away," Finn suggested seductively and she followed him to his bedroom without hesitation.

Lily trapped Finn's head between her thighs, whimpering when he began to suck and lick her clit seemingly with no particular rhythm. Sometimes the force of his tongue was hard, sometimes it was soft but it was always relentless.

She pulled and twisted her nipples to add additional pleasure. The closer to orgasm she got, the harder she tweaked. Finn firmly, but gently pried her thighs away from his head, spreading her legs as far as they would go and renewed his assault on her clit.

"Don't stop, Fergie, please don't stop," she begged, writhing on the bed with orgasm. She released her nipples and tangled her hands in his hair to hold his head in place. He gave her another long lick before trying to stand. "What are you doing?"

"Going to get a condom…"

"Don't…"

"I think we have to or Shawn will _really_ go off the deep end."

"We don't need it. During that two week break my mom made me go to the gyno to get birth control pills," Lily revealed.

"Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Because I was saving it for a special occasion. I can't think of a moment more perfect than this," she replied.

"Well alrighty then," Finn lined himself at her entrance. They moaned simultaneously as the large, hot head of his cock pushed into her. The skin to skin friction compared to the artificial rubber seemed to be having the desired effect on him. She brought her knees up and spread her legs wider to assist his entrance into her. His head was thrown back and his eyes were squeezed shut as he pummeled her.

Just when she felt pleasure building in a spot within her, he stopped and pulled out.

"Fergal?" she called out, disappointed that he stopped. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, Finn turned her over onto her stomach and pushed the back of her neck down into the pillow. As he entered her from behind, Lily could feel every inch as it filled her. It didn't take him long to finish inside of her and she orgasmed again with him.

Finn collapsed on top of her back. A moment later, he was lying on his side with Lily securely in his arms. "Sooo…."

"Sooo," she replied. "If it's 11:00 PM here, what time is it in San Antonio?"

"I don't know 5 PM, maybe," he answered.

"Oh, I have to text my mom so she doesn't get worried," she climbed off the bed.

"That's a good excuse to get your phone back," he sat up against the headboard.

When she turned her phone back on she was bombarded with texts alerts and notifications. Only 2 stood out to her.

 **Hunter: Why would you taunt Shawn with those pics? If you want to stay with Balor that's your business but the least you could've done was given Shawn time to cool down first!**

Then there was the delayed text Finn said she'd receive when she least expected it.

 **Finn: Just touched down. I've had a lot of time to think on the flight over. I have to say I'm actually relieved that things are out in the open. That means we're finally free and don't have to lie or hide anymore. My mind is made, I want you to stay with me but if you decide to break things off to keep the peace I'll understand. You only get one father and there's nothing stronger than the bond between a father and daughter. I would hate to come in between that. At the same time Shawn only has one daughter and he should want to see you happy even if it's with me. Whatever you decide I meant what I said about always being here for you. I'm turning off my phone for a few days so if you don't hear from me, don't panic. I wish I could've brought you here with me but I know you probably have to get things settled with Shawn in San Antonio. Hopefully I'll see you next Monday if Shawn doesn't make Hunter send me to Smackdown. Hell I might get sent back to NXT since I'm so "irrelevant." LOL.**

"What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Oh nothing…"


	8. Three Words

"Bye," Lily waved goodbye to Finn's parents at the airport. "I'm sad."

"Why?" Finn asked as they walked through the terminal.

"Because you'll never get to experience this feeling when it comes to my parents," she sighed. "Even if they do come to tolerate you the emotions won't be genuine."

"Yeah, you're absolutely right. They're always going to hate me and it's going to suck for both of us," he groaned which caused Lily to look up at him. "Oh, I was trying to match your depression."

"It's true though and I thought you were finally coming to terms with it…"

"The future remains to be seen," he replied.

"I wish I'd taken those cookies your mom offered."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I'd eaten the entire first batch myself and if I took the second batch with me your nieces and nephews would hate me."

"I doubt it. When we were leaving they kept asking if you were coming back for Christmas."

"Correction, they kept asking about the 'puppy' and if I was bringing 'her' back for Christmas. Frankie is the draw, not me," she laughed.

"So _are_ you bringing Frankie back for Christmas?"

"We haven't been invited yet…"

"That didn't stop you this time," he teased.

"That's funny, I don't recall you complaining," she muttered. "In fact I distinctly remember you grumbling as you packed last night wishing Hunter gave you two weeks off instead of one so we could've spent more time together at your cottage. You actually asked me to punch you so you'd still have bruises that needed to be healed on your face when we returned."

"That is true. Here's your invitation, would you and Frankie like to spend Christmas with me and my family?" he asked.

"We'll think about it," she replied. "It may be a hard decision because if I go it'll be the first time I'm not home with my own family for Christmas. Who knows maybe by then you'll be invited to spend an awkward Christmas with us. I will miss Ireland though."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you always have a little piece of Ireland inside of you," he smirked.

" _Little_?" she raised a brow. "Speaking of that, wanna join the mile high club?"

"Absolutely... _not_ ," he laughed, shaking his head. "That'll be the perfect headline to finish off the week long saga. First it was: _Lily flees ring._ Then it was: _Lily is the daughter of Shawn Michaels._ Then: _Lily Michaels is dating Finn Balor._ Can't forget about: _Shawn Michaels doesn't approve - Unfollows both._ Finally: _We approve of Shawn's disapproval - 'Fily' arrested by air marshals for mid-flight tryst."_

* * *

When they arrived at Raw, they received stares. Lily felt uncomfortable under this new scrutiny. Finn attempted to make it better by holding her hand but that only made the gawking worse. She did receive more greetings than usual. Before, people would speak but for the most part she was still known as ' _random local jobber who got lucky because of her looks_ ' and didn't get much respect.

"My dad was advertised for this show so I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Lily commented. Sure enough they found him sitting alone eating in catering. She tugged Finn's hand. "Come on."

"Lily, I don't think this is a good idea," Finn whispered, looking around at the crowd building up.

"He's not going to do anything in public, at least I don't think so."

" _Think_ being the operative word…"

"Where's that smile and positivity?" she asked.

"Sorry, PTSD has set in now that I'm a few feet away from my attacker," he said.

Shawn looked up as they approached. He didn't say anything or react even though they were openly holding hands.

Lily stopped directly in front of him. "Daddy, I'd like to formally introduce you to Fergal, my boyfriend."

Shawn's eyes snapped from Lily to Finn down to their interlocking fingers and finally up to the dark purple hickies that lined her neck. Lily cursed herself internally for forgetting to cover them with concealer. His face hardened and his eyes burned with angry intensity that caused Lily to take a step back. He stood and Lily gasped expecting him to attack Finn again but instead Shawn silently walked away.

"Well...that went well, I guess," Finn spoke. "At least in comparison to last Sunday."

"I agree. I'm glad he didn't resort to violence this time but the silent treatment isn't going to resolve anything," she sighed. "I'm going to the locker room and then I'm going to go deal with the other DX member…"

"Alright, babe. I think I'm going to head to the locker room, too," he replied, leaning down to kiss her lips briefly.

Lily knew she'd be met with questions when she entered the women's locker room but after the first ten, it was beginning to feel like an interrogation session complete with cross examination on things she'd already answered.

"How long was the secret supposed to go on?" Nattie asked.

"Evolution was supposed to end the secret and birth a new level to the feud but of course it didn't turn out that way," Lily shrugged.

"People are speculating that it was leaked on purpose to be dramatic since gossip, scandals and social media rule the world now," Alexa said.

"It was leaked on purpose alright but not by anyone involved with protecting the storyline," Lily denied. "Management wouldn't want me painted in a negative light this soon into my career. I'd have to go heel."

"Yeah, I can't picture you as a heel. You're kind of like the reverse Charlotte who sucks as a face," Alexa replied. Lily wanted to roll her eyes at the comment but refrained. Alexa played her role perfectly but it wasn't that hard to portray a bitchy high school girl. Lily was only a few months removed from that environment herself.

"Why hasn't Shawn said anything yet?" Bayley asked. "Is that part of the new storyline since the Michaels vs Hart thing was a bust?"

"Yeah," Lily lied, too embarrassed to admit that he'd disowned her.

"Let me guess, the dating Finn thing is a work to set up some kind of feud against Shawn as well with the unfollowing thing?" Liv inquired.

"Nah, we're actually dating but you know how overprotective dads are," she said. "And before anyone asks, no, I didn't steal him from Cathy."

"I didn't think you did besides he doesn't seem like the cheating type especially with someone in the same company as his girlfriend," Ruby responded.

"Has Cathy checked into a mental facility yet?" Della snorted. "Of course she has a job but if you ask the fanbase, 'who is Cathy Kelley?' 75% only know her as _Finn Balor's girlfriend_."

Lily was afraid of being known as _just_ 'Shawn Michaels' daughter' but now she'd have to worry about being known as 'Shawn Michaels' daughter _and_ Finn Balor's girlfriend.'

* * *

"When I originally heard the news about Lily it finally made since why you were so protective of her," Dolph started. "Then a few days later when I found out that you two were dating, it _really_ made sense. You didn't want us around her because you were fucking her yourself."

" _Or_ maybe I didn't want her objectified and treated like a 'let's see who can get her first' prize," Finn replied.

"And you won, good sir," Dolph smirked.

"By the way, Shawn knows about you cornering her and he wasn't too happy," Finn said which wiped the look off of Dolph's face. He shrugged on his leather jacket and walked out.

Shawn was walking down the opposite hall. It seemed he tried to avoid eye contact with Finn but it didn't stop his eyes from wandering to his prominent bulge. Finn couldn't imagine the thoughts going through Shawn's head right now. Whatever they were, Shawn's hands ball into fists. He mumbled something that sounded like, "motherfucker."

Finn stopped when they passed each other. "Shawn, I know you can't see it or at least don't want to see it but I care about Lily and I'm sorry about how things went down."

"If you were really sorry..." Shawn spoke which shocked Finn as he expected the silent treatment again, "...you'd stay the fuck away from my daughter."

"I can't do that," Finn shook his head. "She needs me."

"Lily doesn't _need_ you or any other man. She foolishly _wants_ you which is a mistake," Shawn hissed.

"How so? I've never disrespected, mistreated or hurt her," Finn argued.

"... _yet_ ," Shawn said. "You haven't done any of that _yet._ A naive girl like Lily probably looks at you like some hero but when you fuck up, guess who'll have to be there to pick up the pieces? Dear old dad."

" _Actually,_ it was me picking up _your_ pieces all week. You want to talk about a hero? That was what you are to Lily. Her love and admiration of you is what drew her to this business despite your reservations. She makes one decision that you don't agree with and you call her a common whore not to mention you blow her big break. Fans attacked her all week and you didn't say a word. Do you know how much they respect you? One support tweet would've stopped it. I can't think of anything I can do that'll compare to that fuck up, _sir,"_ Finn stated.

"Go to hell," Shawn cursed him, walking away.

"That's not very born again Christian-like of you, Shawn," Finn replied.

* * *

Lily entered Hunter's office without knocking. His head snapped up from his phone at the intrusion.

"Ah, Lily you've returned to US soil. I see you had a good time," he said, gesturing to her neck. "Were you not thinking about Shawn and how he'd feel when you posted those pictures?"

"Were you not thinking about Shawn and how he'd feel when you showed him those screenshots?"

"That's different…" he shot back.

"How? What you did was totally unnecessary."

"He deserves to know what was going on, Lily," Hunter replied.

"Two things. The first, I'm 18 aka a consenting adult. The second, as long as we weren't releasing sex tapes, embarrassing the company or doing drugs, it was none of your concern and you had no reason to step in or tell my father."

"Shawn deserved to know what was going on," he said. "Do you think I'd let him to continue to praise Balor like he was some kind of saint knowing what was going on? I get that you're an adult but my loyalty has been with Shawn since before you were born and while Finn was just some Irish kid with a dream," Hunter defended himself. "I couldn't allow him to be a fool."

"Okay, well if you _had_ to do it, there were better options. You could've easily told him instead of showing him. I laugh at the fact that you tried to stop him in the office that night. Newsflash, his reaction was _your_ fault. I'm sure he would've taken the news 100% better if he didn't have the visuals of our sexting swimming in his head. Do you know how embarrassed I am to look my father in the eyes knowing that he's read me say…" Lily trailed off to scroll up through her messages. "...' _I get so wet thinking about alllllllllllllllll those inches._ _Don't stop next time, I want it even if it still hurts.'_ If I were him I'd go into a rage too. You could've easily spared him if only you said, ' _hey, Shawn, I think you should talk to Lily. I heard that she's gotten close to Finn and not in a road buddy way_."

Hunter mouth opened and closed as if he didn't know what to say. Lily could tell that he saw that she was right. "Lily, I-"

"Save it," Lily interrupted him. "What are you going to do about Cathy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to fire her?"

"On the grounds of what exactly?" Hunter asked.

"Ruining my life!"

"Lily, what's done in the dark always comes to light so your secret love affair would've been exposed eventually anyway. Hell, I was actually on to you myself so it would've just been a matter of time before Shawn caught up."

"She also leaked the video which blew the storyline and technically she violated her nondisclosure agreement so she needs to be fined in addition to fired," Lily pointed out.

"No," Hunter shook his head. "There was a hack days prior to that and multiple unreleased videos were taken. That one happened to be the only scandalous one therefore it was the only one worth sending to the dirt sheets. Cathy had nothing to do with it."

"Of course multiple videos were stolen. If she'd only taken mine it would've been obvious especially on the morning after she brought those screenshots to you. Screenshots that were also stolen by the way so her hands aren't looking too clean right now."

"I'm sorry I just have a hard time believing that Cathy is capable of this," he replied in disbelief.

"Call a meeting and ask her face to face if she's behind this just to see her reaction. Better yet, I'll go down to NXT and ask her myself," Lily proclaimed.

"Lily, if you go anywhere near Cathy I will suspend you," he said.

"For how long?" Lily contemplated, wondering if it was worth the risk.

"30 days and once you return you'll be put on the back burner."

"I can not believe I'm the one getting in trouble for this. She really has you fooled," Lily scoffed.

"Fooled? No, Lily. I'm just going off what I know and what I know is Cathy has been a damn good employee and has never given us any trouble of any kind. She was in love with a guy only to find out that he's been betraying her behind her back!"

"Let's unpack what you just said. You just basically said you only know Cathy on a professional level. You don't know what that bitch is capable of when the cameras aren't around. She may have been in love but nothing happened behind her back. They were broken up when Fergal and I began showing interest in each other so there was absolutely no betrayal. I don't appreciate you implying that I'd be involved in some cheating scandal because ' _she was in love with a guy only to find out that he's been betraying her behind her back'_ sounds more like you, Chyna and Stephanie than us. You as well as my father need to think about your own pasts before preaching on your high horses," Lily snapped.

"Okay, this meeting is over," he slid back in his chair and stood.

"Yeah, I bet it is," Lily also stood. "Do I have something to do tonight or what?"

"Yes, I've booked you in a match against Sasha tonight just to get a feel of how the crowd will receive you," he said. "You'll be going over."

Finn was waiting for her outside of the office when she opened the door. "How'd it go."

"Let's just say the catering confrontation with my father, who was the angriest of the two, went a lot smoother," she rolled her eyes. "Cathy has him under some kind of spell. He basically put a restraining order on me but that's a conversation that can be saved for later."

"I had a second confrontation with Shawn," he revealed.

Lily scanned him from head to torso. "You don't have any fresh wounds so I assume it went okay?"

"I wouldn't say okay but this too can be saved for later," he replied. "My match is next."

"I have a match later tonight too. At least Hunter isn't burying or depushing us," she said.

Lily hadn't been out there in so long she was surprised to find her ring gear still at the bottom of her bag.

"Hey, do you want me to take it slow out there and walk you through the match because you're still green and haven't been working in the ring consistently," Sasha said as they stood behind the curtain in gorilla.

Lily knew Sasha was asking out of concern but she knew that she couldn't allow anyone to take it easy or slow on her anymore now that the secret was out. She needed to prove she could hang no matter how much ring rust she had. "No, I'm good."

"K, I'm just trying to help. This will _officially_ be your debut match and the world will be waiting for you to fuck up and botch so they can criticize you. But if you don't want to be carried, so be it. Everyone knows my work so whatever happens out there won't be a reflection of me," Sasha shrugged as her theme played.

"What the hell?" Lily wondered aloud as a new theme that she wasn't aware of played. It sounded like a feminine, dubstep instrumental remix of Shawn's theme.

The reaction she received was mixed but it was loud and that's all that mattered.

" _Now approaching the ring from San Antonio, Texas: Lily Michaels_ ," Jojo announced.

Lily resented this new roll out and felt it was tasteless of Hunter...or Vince to green light it knowing that Shawn wasn't acknowledging her at the moment.

The bell rang and Sasha was the first to confront while Lily stayed firmly in her corner.

"Are you going to run off again?" Sasha taunted her for the cameras.

"No, but you may want to," Lily stepped forward to lock up.

The match starts proper with some decent back and forth exchanging of holds, but Sasha quickly takes over as the more experienced of the two. She seems very confident, going for a cover by just putting her knee on Lily for a 2 count.

Lily is able to take advantage of Sasha's cockiness and knocks her outside of the ring with a flying clothesline. Lily tries to follow up with a dive between the ropes but Sasha dodges it and Lily hits the floor only to be dragged back inside by Sasha.

Sasha begins to unload all of her offense including a diving crossbody, arm drags and forearm chops. However, Sasha tries to go for her double knee dive from the top rope to the outside but Lily counters it into a powerbomb to the floor. She rolls Sasha back into the ring and got a 2 count out of the cover.

They lock up again, Lily gets Sasha into the ropes but Sasha punches her. Sasha kicks Lily down in the corner before flinging her to the mat by her hair. Sasha backed away to get a running start on a knee but Lily catches her leg.

Sasha wraps Lily's arm in the top rope and kicks it, Sasha picks up Lily and tries to Irish whip her but Lily hangs onto the ropes. Sasha tries for the whip again and was successful but when Lily's back hit the ropes on the other side she came back with a cartwheel dropkick.

The crowd was really into the match at this point, cheering for both and reacted to every spot.

Sasha was able to get Lily from behind with a backstabber and flip her into the Bank Statement. Lily struggled and barely made it to the ropes to force a break.

"You know what you have to do in order to blow the roof off of this place," Sasha whispered next to Lily's ear as she had her in a chinlock.

Lily sighed, whispering out of the corner of her mouth so it wouldn't look like she was talking with the cameras filming. "I know but I don't want to. I'm not trying to rely on a gimmicky move to get over."

"I'm pretty sure it's going to be required of you every now and then from this point on," Sasha returned. "If I have to lay down and take the three count for a rookie just because her last name is Michaels, at least try to make the finish memorable!"

"Fine, set it up for me," Lily relented.

Sasha released the hold and kicked Lily flat to the canvas. She went to the top rope and came down for a frog splash but Lily was lighting quick with Sweet Chin Music. The pop for it was massive. 1...2...3.

In a perfect world it would've been Shawn waiting for her behind the curtain but when she walked back there it was only Finn and that was okay.

"Poor Frankie is probably hiding under the bed wondering why we've abandoned him," Lily worried as they stepped onto the elevator at the hotel.

"Should've gotten a cat. He would've been glad to see you leave especially if you were as overbearing as you are with Frankie," Finn sunk into the right corner and began looking at buttons. "Which floor are we on again?"

"The third, _I think_ ," Lily replied. She was standing visibly in the middle when Shawn walked into the lobby. He looked up and when he spotted her, Lily saw what appeared to be a smile tugging at his lips even though he was fighting it. Even from so far away she could see how proud he was.

"What are you looking at?" Finn poked his head out and upon seeing him, Shawn lost his smile. The doors of the elevator began closing. "Oh, sorry. I kind of ruined your moment there, didn't I?"

"If I keep performing like I did out there tonight I'm sure they'll be many more moments to be had. Then he'll have no other choice but to ride the Michaels 2.0 wave," Lily replied.

"You miss him, don't you?" Finn asked sympathically.

"Of course I do. I never thought the day would come when they added Michaels to my name and he wasn't out there with me. I'm kind of on a high right now so enough of this depressing stuff," Lily tried her best to suppress her emotions as she stepped off the elevator. "Oh wait, I think we're on the fourth floor."

* * *

Finn grunted as he came, continuing to thrust as deep as he could inside of Lily. She followed him into orgasm, her nails digging into his back as she tightened around him.

"Good Morning, Gorgeous," she said groggily.

"Good Morning, yourself," he groaned, rolling over onto his pillow. "Tell your mom I said thanks for bringing you and I _so_ much closer together."

"Careful. We finally gained her as an ally. Let's not risk losing her because you want to express how much better our sex life is without a condom. I'm pretty sure she's the reason my dad kept his hands to himself last night so yeah, let's try to stay on her good side," Lily yawned, tired from being up all night with him. They'd only gotten about two hours sleep before his morning wood poked her in the back and like a moth to a flame, she had to grab it.

"I'm going to shower, wanna join?" he asked.

"Seeing _that_ body with water cascading down it sounds very enticing but no, you go ahead. My flight leaves 2 hours after yours and I'm going to take advantage of every second," she closed her eyes and fell into a half sleep, half conscious state where she was resting but could still hear everything he was doing in the bathroom.

"Come to my apartment in Brooklyn with me," he begged, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Dude, we've been together since Wednesday, aren't you tired of me yet?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me? If the two of us got locked away alone in some secluded Big Brother type house only allowed out to wrestle, it'd be fine with me," he chuckled.

"We can't leave to visit our families?"

" _Occasionally_ ," he replied. "So how about it?"

"As much as I'd hate to leave your side, I have to. Frankie had the adventure of a lifetime but it's time for me to take him back to San Antonio where he belongs. The road is no place for a dog and he'd be lonely waiting in my apartment," she pouted.

He sighed, moving to stand over her. "Alright, Lilith, I love you."

"What?" Lily sat up on her elbows, blinking trying to process what she'd just heard.

"Yeah, it's probably too soon but I know what I feel," he replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I knew it when Shawn kicked my ass and I still let you into my room hours later."

"I love you too and I knew it when I sat on a 13 hour flight alone to be with you even though my dad was against it _while_ holding a gun," she smiled. "He said if I loved you already I'm not ready for an adult relationship."

"Trust me, I'm enough of an adult for the both of us…"

* * *

Finn didn't immediately go home when he touched down from his flight to New York but when he did and walked in, he knew something wasn't right. The first sign was the heat blaring from the vents and he knew it didn't switch itself on. He heard a noise in his kitchen and because he left Lily in bed, he knew it wasn't another surprise visit from her. He heard heels clicking on the floor and Cathy walked out to join him in the living room holding a glass of wine. She was dolled up in clothes and full hair and makeup.

"Cathy? What are you… You know what, I don't care why you're here. Just leave my keys on the sofa and get out of here," he said, walking over to the door and opening it. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here after what you did to Lily! Your actions not only affected her, they affected me. I was beaten down over those screenshots and I could've easily been fired."

"You're a top 10 merch seller and you routinely receive one of the top 5 pops of the night despite having no direction. They weren't going to fire you," she replied, casually taking a seat on the sofa.

"What was your endgame?"

"I was hoping Shawn took his little brat back to preschool but unfortunately after last night's Raw it's clear she's here to stay."

"Yep, on Raw and in my life. Glad you've come to terms with it," Finn nodded confidently, still holding the doorknob. "Come on, you're letting all the heat out."

"I'm surprised you're alone," Cathy said, disregarding his words. "I came here expecting to find her clothes hung in the closet. Why not move her in considering you're doing everything else with her at lightening speed."

"Okay, I'll entertain you if it'll get you to the point and out of my house. What's that supposed to mean," he asked, leaning his shoulder against the door.

"We began secretly dating in late 2015 before I was even signed to WWE when I interviewed you for AfterBuzz TV. I didn't meet your parents until eight months later when they came to visit you at an NXT taping. You didn't invite me to Ireland until we'd been dating a full year. When a picture of us holding hands leaked you still didn't want to confirm our relationship because and I quote you, ' _I've always kept my personal life personal and I want to keep it that way.'_ Every time I took a selfie or a picture you made sure you moved as far away as possible," she began wiping tears. "Why wasn't I ever good enough? Why did it take some fresh faced teenager to turn you into boyfriend goals? What is it?"

In a way, Finn felt sympathy for her. He never thought about how Cathy would feel after being an open secret for years about him going public with Lily so soon but the tears and ranting didn't move him. "Of course you were good enough and I meant what I said about keeping my personal life personal. I would've kept it personal with Lily too but after what you did to her, I wanted to be firmly and visibly in her corner. What were you thinking? I'm surprised you didn't leak her nudes just to take it a step further."

"I thought about it but that's tricky. The girl just turned 18 in July. Who knows if those photos were taken specifically for you or if she already had them in her phone from months or even years ago. I was not trying to land a child pornography charge," she turned her glass up to her lips but it was empty so she stood and walked back into the kitchen.

Finn walked forward to follow her. "Jealousy is a very ugly trait. You've always been jealous but now it's consumed you. You look so beautiful right now but I feel nothing. If you were upset about my relationship with Lily, you should've taken it out on me, not her!"

Cathy slowly filled her glass to the brim. "Would have cared if I came for you instead? Nothing ever affects you, Fergal. You just brush it off, smile and carry on. I was hurt and I wanted to hurt you so in order to do that I had to hurt her and look, it worked."

Finn cursed himself for not recording this. Lily told him how the conversation with Hunter went. Everything Cathy said thus far was plenty evidence that Lily wasn't talking crazy during their meeting. "I understand that you're hurt but it has nothing to do with me. We were already broken up and I made sure to break things off permanently when I was ready to move on with Lily. You didn't catch us in bed together and if you read through those texts, nothing negative was said about you at all. If you just walked out of my apartment that day without touching my phone we could've been cordial right now."

"You offered me friendship when I was on my way out and I told you something: they say if two former lovers can remain friends, it's because they either never loved each other or they still do," she repeated. "Which was it?"

"Of course I loved you, Cathy. You can't be with someone for 3 years and not. _Loved_ , past tense. You pissed away any chance we had to remain friends when you took those screenshots and leaked that interview," he replied showing no emotion.

"If you loved me, past or present tense, it shouldn't be this easy to throw me away," she stepped forward, pressing her lips to his. He didn't react at first but soon he began trying to create distance without being rough and blatantly pushing her off.

"Good thing I'm not a killer because you left your door wide open," Finn felt panicked when he heard Lily's voice and footsteps in his living room. "Guess what? Frankie needed a way to San Antonio. After you left I thought about it. My dad! I showered, dropped Frankie off in his room and booked a flight to Brooklyn."

Cathy clasped her hand to the back of his neck, keeping him to her. She wrapped her leg around his leg.

Finn didn't know what Lily was holding but it dropped to the floor once she made it to the entrance of the kitchen. "What is this?"

"Lilith, it's not what it looks like!" Finn quickly blurted. She looked at him with hurt in her eyes and Cathy made it no better, reaching over to wipe her lipstick from the corners of his mouth. That look of hurt quickly reverted to anger.

"It's not what it looks like?" Lily asked. "Did I not just find you locked in a kiss with your ex as she dry humps you? The ex that ruined my life? If this is your version of love, you could've kept those three words."

"Three words? As in I...love...you? Those three words?" Cathy scoffed. "Another thing you've given her a thousand times faster than you gave me."

"Cathy please shut the fuck up and stay out of it because I'm trying really hard not to attack you but your voice and that arrogant expression on your face is really provoking me," Lily took a deep, calming breath. Finn noticed the grip she had on the doorframe.

"Attack me? That's cute," Cathy said, taking a few steps toward her.

"Cathy, I'd advise you not to do that," Finn said cautiously, grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

"What is she going to do? Cry to Shawn? Is he even speaking to her after reading all those dirty texts?" Cathy asked.

"Hunter said if I went anywhere near you I'd be suspended. He didn't say anything about if you came anywhere near me though," Lily threw a single punch that floored Cathy.

"Cathy, in case you try to flip this to Triple H to make Lilith the aggressor, I filmed it. You walking toward and taunting her," Finn said, playing the video back.

"Eh, it doesn't matter anymore," Lily shrugged. "Catherine Kelley, you win. I'm done."

"What the hell do you mean you're done?" Finn asked. "I told you it wasn't what it looked like."

"Even if it wasn't, why did you let her in?" Lily questioned.

"I didn't! She still had her key."

"Why didn't you take it back when you broke things off? Better yet, why didn't you change the lock? If my dad could change the fancy deadbolts on our door in a split second, I'm sure it would've been nothing to walk down to the hardware center to get a new lock for this regular door!" Lily angrily spat. "Okay, moving on. She let herself in. Why did you allow her to stay longer than five seconds? Looking at the counter she even had time to crack open a bottle of wine."

"I asked her to leave which is why I left the door open," he explained. "I wasn't going to physically remove a woman by force."

"How noble of you," Lily mocked. "I guess the same excuse will be applied to why you allowed her to get close enough to kiss you."

"Lilith, you're being unreasonable! How could you even think I'd do this to you intentionally after everything we've been through? You know how manipulative she is, why would you take any of this seriously. When I said I loved you, I meant it," he declared. "I wouldn't turn around a few hours later and sneak back with my ex."

"You're wasting your breath," Cathy said. "This is what happens when you decide to date an immature teen who is too young to process adult situations."

"Actually, Cathy, you're right. I _am_ too young for this. I believe everything Fergal said about this encounter but I can't handle the drama right now. I think about the girls I graduated with and the only thing they have to worry about is not flunking out of college and occasionally monitoring their boyfriend's Instagram likes. Meanwhile, I've practically destroyed my relationship with my father, I have to try to go above and beyond to prove my worth as a generational Superstar to the fans and the girls in the lockerroom, I have to deal with online bullying and finally, I have a boyfriend with an obsessive ex who probably isn't going to give up anytime soon. We've gotten the cliche walking in on you two kissing scene out of the way. What's next? Is she going to fake a pregnancy to make you look like the bad guy for abandoning her and the nonexistent unborn fetus to be with me? My life is turning into a low budget Lifetime movie," she shook her head. "It's just too much pressure and added stress. I'm sorry Fergie, I can't do this."

Finn's chest felt tight when she finished and began turning around but he couldn't let her walk out on him without a fight. "Lilith, stop! You didn't let Shawn win, you didn't let H win but you're going to let Cathy and her childish games win? I don't understand this decision!"

"Agree or disagree: I'm going through a lot right now?" she quizzed.

"Agree but guess whose been by your side through it all? Me!" he argued and Lily blinked as if he was getting through to her.

"He kind of caused it too…" Cathy yelled from the kitchen.

"Fergal," Lily paused, sliding her hand to his cheek. Suddenly the room grew very quiet as the two stared at each other. "I love you. I'm not saying this is forever but right now I need space and time to get my life and emotions in check. I also have to make things right with my dad. If you love me you'll respect this decision."

"Okay," Finn nodded, feeling defeated. She paused when she made it to the door, he expected her to look back but she didn't. He punched his sofa out of angst when she was out of sight. He walked to the kitchen and found Cathy rubbing ice on her cheeks. "Are you happy now?"

* * *

"Oh, right," Lily mumbled, remembering that Shawn changed the locks when her key wouldn't open the front door. She began ringing the doorbell repeatedly. "Mom!"

"What's the hurry?" Lily's mom asked when she opened the door. Lily brushed by her in a hurry. "Wait, you have to tell me about your trip."

"It was beautiful. His family was lovely. We had lots of unprotected sex which he thanks you for and he told me he loved me," she paraphrased.

"Wha…" her mom's brows shot up.

"Is dad home?"

"Yes, he's in his museum but if you think you're going to go in there and tell him what you just told me, think again! I've finally got him to scale back some of his anger."

"I thank you for that and no, it's going to be an entirely different conversation," Lily informed. Frankie brushed up against her legs as she walked down the hallway. "Not now."

When Lily cracked the door open, she saw Shawn's back turned toward her but she could tell he was struggling with something. "Babe, why do you go out and buy these expensive picture frames that can barely open."

"What are you framing?" Lily asked which caused him to jump.

"Oh, it's you," he replied dryly without turning around to face her. "Didn't you abandon your dog with me at the hotel this morning so you could run off with ' _Fergal, my boyfriend'._ "

"I did," she confirmed, approaching him from behind. She could see that he'd printed out a picture of her Sweet Chin Music last night and was framing it for her glass display case. "But I'm here to say that I regret the rift that this situation has caused between us. Can we go back to the way things were."

Shawn's eyes narrowed. "He fucked up, didn't he?"

"Technically, no, he didn't but the situation around him today was fucked up and I realized that I'm in over my head...at least for right now," Lily exploded into tears.

"Just like I told that smug piece of shit, I'd be the one here to pick up the pieces," Shawn pushed her head into his chest. "I forgive you."

"Wait, I think you're mistaken. I regret the rift that my relationship has caused between us but I don't regret my relationship if that's what you're forgiving me for," she clarified. "I won't stand for you slandering him. He did nothing wrong then and he did nothing wrong today. I'm just here right now to try to fix things. Leave Fergal out of it."

"Lily, I...okay," he sighed.


	9. The Hangover

"What are you going to do if you run into _him_?" Shawn asked Lily on speaker as she packed her bags in her Orlando apartment. She hadn't been in it in so long the power was disconnected when she arrived Thursday evening. Today was Friday and time to get back on the road for the weekend house shows.

"You mean _when_ ," Lily corrected. "Backstage is big but not _that_ big so running into him is inevitable. When it happens I'm not going to run away but if you're trying to ask whether we're going to sneak off to the nearest closet, no. Anyway, my flight leaves soon so I have to get to the airport."

Lily's relationship with Shawn was still awkward but slowly improving. Shawn grumbled under his breath before speaking again. "Okay. I'll see you Monday. Love you."

"Alright, Dad, love you, too," she replied, ending the call.

At the airport, Lily saw many other Orlando based Raw wrestlers getting ready for their flights. She heard a whistle from behind and was joined by Della and Marina.

They were stopped by fans to sign autographs and take selfies when Lily noticed one of them wearing a Roman Reigns shirt.

"I'm still bummed out over Roman," Lily commented and Della immediately walked away.

Marina stopped and turned to Lily. "Hey, for future reference, try not to mention Roman around D. It's a really sore subject for her…"

"Oh, okay. Is the offer still good?" Lily asked.

"Offer? What offer?" Marina blinked, confused.

"Do you remember when I was about to come on the road and you offered me a ride with you?" Lily reminded.

"Oh yeah. Well, D is dating Elias now so there'll be an extra body in addition to me, her and Seth but you're welcome to join us," she replied. "Wait, is Devitt not on schedule this weekend?"

"We, I, uhm, we're taking a break…" Lily admitted.

"Details?"

"I just have a lot going on right now and I can't juggle it all. Something had to go."

"And that something _had_ to be Devitt?"

"Well I definitely couldn't get rid of my other concerns: my career and my father," Lily replied. "Like I said it's just a break."

"And what are you going to do if he gets back with Cathy or starts a new relationship?"

"I didn't think about that," Lily's eyes widened. "I'm confident he won't get back with Cathy but I hope he doesn't meet anyone else."

"Life is too fucking short to play games, Lily," Della said, joining them again. "If you know you want to be with the guy, go be with him. You don't know if his plane will crash, if an 18 wheeler will strike his rental or he'll receive a life altering diagnosis!"

"Della, please stop with the morbid crap. Thanks," Marina replied.

* * *

"Sorry, I'd already rented the car and didn't know we'd have an extra body so things may be a little tight," Rollins apologized outside of Enterprise.

"I weight 110 pounds. It's fine," Lily said, dragging her bags around the car. As she was struggling to lift her suitcase into the trunk, a car pulled up behind her and blew. The windows were tinted so she couldn't see inside. She was beginning to feel alarmed, not knowing if it was some weirdo or crazy stalker fan.

"Seth!" Marina hissed when she noticed the car.

Seth walked over to the driver's side to investigate and knocked on the window. Lily heard him exchange a few words before standing up right again. " _Lilith,_ it's for you."

"Oh God," Lily knew who the mysterious driver was upon hearing Lilith. She walked over to the passenger side and he let down the window. She bent down to see him. "What are you doing?"

"You ended our relationship, not our traveling arrangements," Finn replied.

"I thought that went without saying…"

"I told you that I'd be here for you regardless and I meant it," he said.

"Fergal…" Lily sighed. "How can I get space from you if we're still riding together? Our entire relationship was flight, drive, more flights and more drives and then we eventually added sex. I was around you more than anyone else. We'll still be doing the same minus the sex. Technically, it won't qualify as a break. I thought you respected my decision."

"I am respecting your decision to separate as a couple. Do you see me on my hands and knees begging to work things out? As of right now, I'm fine just going back to the way we were before because I know that you'll eventually come to your senses and we'll pick up where we left off," he leaned over to open the passenger door but Lily closed it.

"That may be a while. My dad and I are finally talking again. I don't want to undo all the progress we made if he finds out I'm riding with you again. He's already super paranoid about us being on the road together this weekend while he's not here."

"That fast, huh? We split Tuesday, it's Friday. If all it took was 2 and a half days for him to forgive you, was he really all that mad to begin with?"

Lily heard doors slamming and her would be road buddies sinking into the car.

"What's it going to be?" Finn asked.

"I can't," Lily shook her head.

"Okay, have fun being the third wheel. Oh, excuse me, technically there are already four wheels on the car, you're like the spare underneath," Finn smiled, slowly pulling off.

It would be awkward considering that they were all couples, or at least she took Seth and Marina to be coupled. "Wait!"

Finn slammed on breaks and the car jerked. He got out and transferred her bags from Seth's trunk to his. "Let's go."

Being alone with him after what happened was strange. It actually felt more awkward than their very first trip together but worse knowing how they felt about each other.

"So…." Finn said in an attempt to break the ice and Lily didn't follow up with a so of her own. He sighed. "Come on, Lilith."

"Fine. So…"

"Nevermind."

His phone kept dinging as he texted back and forth. She could see him smiling at the screen from her peripheral vision. It concerned her because she thought back to what Marina said. Some people could read lips, Lily could read text strokes and she was certain he just typed, 'I love u 2.'

Finn dropped the phone in his cup holder. "My mom says hello and she wants you to know that she is terribly disappointed in your decision."

"You told her?" Lily gasped but she was relieved that he hadn't moved on already.

"I thought they told you there weren't any secrets in the Devitt household."

"Yeah, but I didn't take it seriously. I mean come on, your face was black and blue, you had no other choice but to talk about the incident," she replied. "What did she say? Is she mad at me?"

"No," he shook his head. "She just thinks you're...young."

"Okay, she's not mad. What about you?"

"I'm not going to lie, that night after I took Cathy's key, kicked her out _and_ changed the locks, I was kind of pissed but I figured I couldn't look at it through the lenses of a 37 year old man. I had to put myself in the shoes of an 18 year old girl in your situation and yeah, I understood."

"I wish I didn't have to give you up but for right now, I just...I don't know," she shook her head.

"You don't have to explain yourself, Lilith. You justified your decision that day and I'm okay stepping back...for now. Moving on, scale from 1 to 10, how happy was Shawn when he found out we weren't together anymore."

"I'd say a 5 because on one hand we're over but on the other, I expressed that it may not be permanent."

"I can't believe you actually told him that."

"I wasn't going to allow him to throw you under the bus so I had to let him know. The more time passes, the more comfortable I am standing up to my dad and the almighty H," she said. "Anyway, what happened with Cathy after I left?"

"We made love and reconciled…"

"Yeah, that would've totally worked if you hadn't already divulge changing the locks and kicking her out a few minutes ago," Lily snorted.

"Oh yeah. You gave her quite the shiner so I allowed her to ice it for a while. It didn't help and she wasn't able to do her WWENow report this week. Then she rubbed our break up in my face until I was tired of hearing it which is where the key revoking took place…"

Two hours later Lily pulled up her map and saw that they were a few miles away from the arena. "Hey, I was wondering if you could drop me off at this cafe coming up on the right."

"You're hungry again? I just drove you through Taco Bell less than 30 minutes ago."

"Actually, this is going to be my pickup location so I can Uber the rest of the way," Lily informed him.

"What?"

"The fans and their phones," she shrugged. "I don't want my father to get the wrong idea."

"I get what you're trying to do but personally I think Uber is dangerous."

"It's not nighttime, Fergal."

"If it was nighttime this wouldn't be up for discussion," he replied. "All I'm saying is every time I watch the news or read news columns I see a story about an Uber driver raping, robbing, or murdering their passenger."

"Okay, I'll make sure my driver is a woman…"

"Women are capable of rape, robberies or murders, too. Hashtag equality…"

"Well what's your solution?"

"The only way I'd be comfortable with you Ubering is if I was with you but since that'll defeat the purpose, I'll follow the driver just to keep an eye on you and I'll wait about five minutes after you're inside the arena to get out so when fans take their pictures you won't be anywhere in the background," he reasoned. "I'll keep your bags in my car and take them as well."

"I think you're overreacting," Lily said.

"Oh really? This coming from the overaction queen," he replied sarcastically.

Lily slammed her head backwards against the headrest. "If you insist on doing this, okay. Also, I think I can take my own bags. Won't people find it strange that you're rolling a pink, glittery suitcase?"

"Pink, glittery suitcases...for everyone could be a new gimmick I'm working on for all they know," he laughed.

* * *

Lily watched Sasha lock the Bank Statement in on Liv during their 3 on 3 vs The Riott Squad that night during the house show. She, Sasha and Bayley celebrated their victory in the ring together.

"What is your direction now?" Finn asked as they stepped off the elevator.

"I have no idea. The Sasha match was great but I tagged with her tonight so that amounted to nothing. I don't think they know themselves," Lily shrugged, digging around in her purse for the room key card.

Finn hesitated once she entered. "Can I come in?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Lily stammered.

"A lot of things weren't good ideas but that didn't stop us," he replied. "I'm not expecting anything. We can just be two friends hanging out."

"That's the thing, I don't know how to be your friend. You went from my chauffeur and chaperone to my lover. There was really no inbetween. I'm afraid it's too late for that so unfortunately I'm going to have to bid you goodnight...gorgeous," she couldn't meet his eye as she closed the door in his face. It was too hard. She knew he wouldn't pressure her into anything but their emotions were strong and she knew that talking would lead to laughing and laughing would lead to longing stares, those stares would lead to a kiss and that kiss would lead to sex. Boom, they'd be dating again in a matter of hours. She needed to stay vigilant.

Saturday's house show had the same match and exact same finish. Rinse and repeat for Sunday as well but that night Lily found herself in a bar. She never had hard alcohol before in her life, even at high school parties but she assumed that this is what being drunk felt like. The room seemed to sway in front of her. There was not many people left and she figured her drunk dancing might've scared them away.

"Lily, we're ready to get out of here," Della and her fuzzy identical twin said walking toward her. When she stopped, they merged again.

Lily, disoriented tried to collect her thoughts. "One more song."

"Wait, are you drunk?" Della looked around. "Who bought an 18 year old alcohol?!"

"Some guy," Lily shrugged. "I don't know. One was pink, one was brown and the other was clear."

"You don't mix brown and white. You aren't going to be able to move tomorrow morning," Della facepalm. "Let's go because I'll be damned if Shawn blames me if you get checked into the hospital for alcohol poisoning."

"Stoney, let the girl live a little. You were already a decorated indie star at her age. I'm sure you had a few drinks in your day," Elias said.

"More than a few actually but my real last name is Jennings therefore I had no legacy to sustain."

"My dad was a pill popper and coke head. I think I can get away with a few drinks," Lily slurred.

"Yeah, she needs to get out of here," Elias agreed. "I'll get her on this side, you get her on the other."

"Shit, fans are outside. Act natural," Della whispered.

Lily tried to hold her head high but she was distracted by the feeling of bile rising in her throat. She tried to force it back down but ultimately had to break away from Della and Elias to stumble forward and release it on the pavement. She heard reactions from the people around and saw flashes of pictures being taken. Della quickly covered her with her jacket and ushered her to the car.

"I can't believe I threw up on 3,000 dollar fur boots," Lily commented as the elevator opened at the hotel.

"Shawn may not be pleased when he hears about this incident but I'm sure PETA will."

"It's faux fur," Lily clarified. "Now I have to find my room key."

"That won't be necessary because I am not taking you to your room alone. You're so fucked up I'm afraid you'll choke on your own vomit in your sleep and die or something," Della replied. "I don't want that on my conscience."

"You're taking me to your room?"

"Hell no. Do you see me in this dress? Elias is going to want me to do more than walk with him tonight. I'm taking you where you should've been tonight in the first place," Della stopped in front of a room and knocked. Lily had a strong feeling of who was inside.

"No, Della, please. I don't want him to see me like this," Lily begged. She tried to flee but her wobbly legs wouldn't allow it.

The door swung open. "Della, what's up."

"Christmas came early this year. I brought you a gift. It's not the best looking or smelling package at the moment but I'm sure you'll appreciate it."

"Huh?" Finn peaked his head into the hallway and spotted her. "Lilith, what? Why? How?"

"She had a very eventful night at the local bar..."

"What the hell were you thinking, Lily?" he scolded.

"Just imagine if she went to college instead, she'd probably be doing this every single night. Anyway, I've released her to your care so she's your problem now. Goodnight," Della strutted away.

Lily saw that he was preparing to fuss so she held a hand up to halt him. "I'm going back down the hall to my room."

"Lily, get in here," Finn stepped aside and his tone didn't leave any room for argument.

He walked her into the bathroom and the sight of the toilet triggered her into another round of nausea and she barely made it before releasing what was left of her stomach contents. He kneeled behind her and held her hair back.

When she was finished he turned on the shower and began stripping her of her clothes. She moved one hand to cover her crotch and used the other to cover her breast. "What are you doing? Get out of here!"

"Lily, I've already seen everything you have..."

"Get out! I'm serious!"

"No, you're drunk beyond recognition is what you are. Your eyes are bloodshot and you reek of vomit so I couldn't sexualize the situation if I wanted to. What I'm going to do is clean you up and then you're going to bed," Finn replied trying to sound authoritative.

Lily was quiet for a moment as she studied him intensely. He looked serious. She dropped the hands that covered her body. "Fine."

Once he washed one leg, Lily tried to switch legs and slipped, falling on her wet ass. He thought it was hilarious and didn't seem mad at her anymore.

"I'm putting this by the bed just in case," he held up a trash can as she blow dried her hair in the mirror. She still looked a little intoxicated but at least she felt _and_ smelled better.

"I for one am tired," Lily yawned.

"Now there's _my_ girl," he sat up in bed when she walked out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, I notice that you called me 'Lily' for like the first time ever," she chuckled.

"Your phone kept buzzing with notifications while you were in there."

Lily was mortified knowing the reason why. "Please don't search my name for the next 24 hours."

He looked intrigued, reaching for his phone. "I have to now."

"No, you've already gotten a front row seat of me puking my brains out. There's no point of watching it again," she mumbled.

"Fans got you from every angle possible. Well, at least now they can't try to sell you as a Disney Princess babyface character…" he said after viewing.

"I think that was a wrap when the world heard me call two legends decrepit. Move over," she settled under the sheets and her body fit into his in spooning position. "I'm surprised my dad hasn't called yet."

"I'm just glad I was nowhere in this video because we'd, I mean, _I_ , would have to take another week long trip back home," he laughed. Lily was confused as to why he changed his wording but the she remembered they weren't together anymore and he couldn't automatically include her in his plans.

"He'll still find a way to blame you somehow."

" _You probably watched your evil leprechaun boyfriend drink one night after he forced himself on you and you took his influence,"_ Finn mocked Shawn. "On a serious note, you're going to be so hungover in the morning."

* * *

Lily felt like crap the next morning as she dragged behind Finn as they walked to the car. Her head was pounding with aching force and the pills she took hadn't kicked in yet. She covered her eyes with oversized sunglasses.

Finn closed his door gently to not disturb her but when he turned the car on, the radio played at full blast. "Sorry."

Lily groaned, covering her ears. "My dad and Hunter have been taking turns calling me but I've been letting it ring."

"And now H is calling me," Finn sounded surprised as he looked down at his phone.

"Answer on speaker," Lily instructed.

Finn cleared his throat and slid the bar across the screen. "Hello?"

"Have you seen Lily?" Hunter asked getting straight to the point.

Finn looked over and Lily shook her head. "No. Is anything wrong?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you've seen or at least heard about the videos. We've been calling her all morning. Maybe she'll answer you. If she does, you tell Lily that I want her in my office as soon as she makes it to the arena."

"And that's all you better tell her," Shawn yelled in the background and the call ended.

"Yeah, they're pissed," Finn chuckled, putting his phone down.

"When _aren't_ they pissed these days," Lily reclined her seat and enjoyed the ride.

Lily didn't bother with the Uber switcharoo this time. With the drunken videos making their rounds all over social media the last thing she cared about was being spotted with Finn.

" _WWE Female Superstar_ _Lily Michaels(daughter of WWE HOFer Shawn Michaels) and her wild night of underage binge drinking_ …" Hunter shook his head reading a headline straight from TMZ before sliding his phone to her.

"Yikes, TMZ used the absolute worst picture of me they could find," Lily cringed. "And I wasn't binge drinking. I only had 3."

"3 _is_ binge drinking to someone who has barely had a glass of wine!" Shawn said. "Furthermore, binge isn't the word you should be focused on. The problematic word not to mention crime in this is the word underage. Lily, if you'd been arrested you would have a misdemeanor on your record, a fine or your license suspended!"

Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose. " _This_ is the very reason we don't call up anyone before they're 21. You're already a PR nightmare from the leaked interview to your over-aged boyfriend and now this. You aren't even 6 months in yet. What's next? Photed drunk with your panties down peeing in sinks like Kelly Kelly?"

"Your mother and I thought we'd gotten lucky that you didn't have a rebellion phase but I guess you've been saving it for your career," Shawn said.

"Rebelling was not my intention. All I wanted to do was hang out after the show like everyone else."

"Everyone else isn't underage and everyone else definitely is not a Michaels!" Shawn pointed out. "Forget my image. Do you not care about yours? The public saw you as a disrespectful brat but they seemed to forgive you after your showing last Monday. Now you've reinforced that thought and added wild, party girl who can't hold her liquor to your resume. My schedule here is strictly Raw appearances and occasional pay per views but I'm seriously thinking about coming on the road full time just to babysit you."

"That won't be necessary," Lily declined. "Oh and remember that time you assigned me a damn good babysitter? You can say or think what you want about Fergal but he took care of me and we never set foot in a bar after shows."

"He took care of you alright," Shawn scoffed. "Why the hell would he need to take you to a bar when he was getting what he wanted in the privacy of hotel rooms without liquioring you up."

Hunter pushed a script for tonight's show forward. "This is what we had planned for tonight."

 _8:25-8:45 Segment/Promo: Shawn Michaels throws daughter Lily an in-ring coming out party._

Before Lily could finish reading bullet points for their promo, Hunter snatched it away and ran a black marker through it.

Lily looked over at Shawn and he just shook his head. "I'm just not ready yet."

"Such bullshit," Lily mumbled under her breath. "Am I off the show period?"

"No, you'll be losing in a match to Alexa Bliss," Hunter replied.

Lily folded her arms across her chest. "I'm going to take a page out of my father's playbook and refuse."

"Refuse the match?" Hunter asked.

"No, I'll take the match but I refuse to lay on my back," she clarified.

"I wish you had that same attitude when it came to Balor," Shawn grumbled.

"Poor choice of words," Lily waved it off. "I refuse to do the job for Alexa."

"Excuse me?" Hunter raised a brow.

"You heard me. I will not lose to Alexa this early in my career," Lily declared.

"Lily, in '97 I was WWF's biggest star. They didn't call me the Showstopper for nothing. I earned the right to get booked however the hell I wanted. You on the other hand can't use backstage politics if you haven't shown your value to this company yet," Shawn replied.

"He's right," Hunter agreed.

"I can't show any value if you kill me during Week 2 of my Michaels run. I don't know if you've noticed but losing to Alexa is literally the death of any momentum a woman has. She went over Becky on Smackdown and it took Becky two years to rise to prominence again. She went over Sasha who was fresh out of a historic feud with Charlotte and killed her steam. The same goes for Bayley and Nia. She even went over a legend, Mickie James who was then made her sidekick. I'm sorry but I can't," Lily shook her head. "If losing is punishment for my actions last night, feed me to Ronda, Nia, hell even Dana Brooke. I'll take it but Alexa? No! You can't kill the little progress I've made before I'm established."

"Okay, but she gets free reign to say whatever she wants on the mic tonight," Hunter warned. "And the finish will be a disqualification in case we want to revisit a feud in the future."

"That's fine," Lily replied, sliding her chair back.

Lily felt herself being side eyed as she walked around backstage.

"Here comes Britney Spears…" she heard as soon as she entered the locker room.

Nia laughed. "I think she's a little too young to remember Britney's transition from America's sweetheart to bald umbrella swinger. I think the good girl gone bad reference her generation will understand is Miley Cyrus."

"Ha, ha, guys," Lily sarcastically replied. "One off night isn't going to start me on the path to diamond grills, gold chains and flat butt twerking. Also, Miley is back to normal-ish these days."

"But on a serious note, Lily, I'm sure Hunter and your dad have already gotten on your case but on behalf of the locker room please keep your nose clean. What you do is a reflection of all of us," Nattie said and Lily saw nods of agreement around the room. "I say it's a reflection of all of us because that TMZ article had 'WWE Female Superstar' in front of your name when it was posted. We don't want the world to get the wrong idea about us as a whole. We're finally being taken serious, please don't set us back."

"Got it," Lily replied.

"I apologize in advance for whatever I decide to say out there. No hard feelings, it's just business," Alexa said to Lily in gorilla before their promo and match.

"Same to you," Lily smirked right as her theme played.

On her way to the ring she noticed a fan sign depicting her as a blonde stick figure with colorful confetti spilling from her mouth. She actually thought it was cool but then some asshole in the front row tried to get an 'alcoholic' chant started but no one joined in.

When Alexa walked from behind the curtain, Lily noticed two things. In one of Alexa's hands she was holding a mic and the other was hiding something behind her back.

"Has everyone here tonight made Lily feel welcome? If not, on 3, let her hear you as loud as you can. 1...2...3…" Alexa spoke into the mic and Lily got the impression that she was alluding to Lily being hungover so Lily sold it by covering her ears with a pained expression when the crowd cheered which only made them get louder.

When Alexa ducked between the ropes to enter the ring she pulled an umbrella from behind her back and opened it in Lily's face. "Just in case."

"Funny," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Lily Michaels, formally known as Lily, the local jobber from Jacksonville has been the name on everyone's lips for the past few weeks. When we found out about her _real_ identity my Twitter mentions were filled with ' _Alexa is over party_ ' and ' _Alexa's replacement has arrived_ ' but why should I be worried. I'm confident my spot is secure because as we all saw last night, Lily Michaels is very reckless and her career here isn't promised. We don't know if she'll be jailed or knocked up with baby Balor this time next month. Once again, Lily Michaels, the name on everyone's lips... but for all the wrong reasons. Should we drop the Michaels from your name because it's been a few weeks now and Shawn hasn't acknowledged you in any way, shape or form. Not in a tweet, not in an interview, not in a throwback Thursday picture. I haven't even seen you two in the same area backstage. Are you daddy's little girl or daddy's little embarrassment? How about we ask the man himself before he's wheeled back into the nursing home that Triple H kidnapped him from," Alexa finished.

Lily was surprised to hear Shawn's theme that was almost drowned out by the loud pop it received. Lily's neck snapped to the ramp but the excitement in the arena quickly deflated when it became clear that he wasn't coming out. She couldn't believe she fell for it.

Alexa smiled. "I guess we have our answer."

"The only answer I'm concerned with is whether or not you'll get through our match without an injury or concussion because it's becoming a pattern with you now, _five feet of fragile._ You've been injured twice since my father's return, maybe you should check into a room next to his at the nursing home," Lily retorted into her mic. "Alexa, I can understand why the fans would think we're interchangeable. You see, I happen to be a teenage girl while you _play_ a teenage girl on TV which is tragic because you're like 27, grow up. If I'm going to replace someone, I want it to be someone with substance. Mean Girls is so 2004 and the sequel was a flop. Kudos to you for making a tribute gimmick work in 2018 but I want more for myself. While you played ringside cheerleader at Evolution, it must've been hard standing in that arena knowing girls who fit your mold who actually put in work were present. You're just another blonde on the WWE assembly line but what sets girls like Toni Storm, Taynara Conti, Lacey Evans and most importantly myself apart from you is actual talent beyond facial expressions and the ability to speak coherently in a mic to deliver a promo which happen to be the top two things you're hyped for. Maybe that's why you ' _accidentally'_ injured me a few months ago because you saw the writing on the wall but unfortunately for you, I'm here to stay."

Alexa looked legitimately speechless. Lily couldn't recall the last time someone had the opportunity to get the last word during an Alexa feud. Alexa finally responded by attacking Lily with the umbrella. The ref separated them and signaled for the bell to start the match.

Alexa avoided Lily at the start. When she tried to attack Lily, Lily countered with a powerbomb. Alexa faked an injury and was helped up by the referee only to slap Lily to gain the advantage. The slap stung hard and Lily wondered if it was due to the Lily's rebuttal promo. Alexa rolled her into a cradle for a two count but Lily kicked out.

Lily made a comeback with a stiff knee to Alexa's face. Lily was ready to go for the pin until Mickie entered the ring only for Lily to Sweet Chin Music her. The ref took notice of this and called off the match, awarding a disqualification to Alexa.

"You did so good out there," Finn was waiting for her backstage.

"Thank you! I didn't know what to say but it kind of just flowed. I think Alexa may be mad at me though."

"She'll get over it," he shrugged.

Lily stared into his eyes then at his lips as he licked them. She slowly started leaning toward him and he did the same until a throat clearing stopped them inches away from each other.

"Lily, let's go," Shawn demanded. He turned and walked away, stopping to say something over his shoulder. "Tell your friend goodnight and come on."

"Well, he referred to you as my friend instead of bastard or that motherfucker and he's allowing me to say goodnight instead of dragging me away by the hair so progress, maybe?" she snorted.

"There's still hope yet," Finn nodded.


	10. A Too Sweet Xmas

**Sorry, Sorry, Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy with work and I've kind of fell off with WWE for a few weeks. I didn't even know they had a PPV Sunday (so it's not written into the story) until I checked the results of Raw today...**

* * *

Finn's phone vibrated on the floor beside him early Friday morning as he packed for the weekend house shows. He didn't recognize the number and normally he wouldn't answer but the location read San Antonio, TX. He went ahead and slid the bar in case Lily changed numbers.

"Hello?"

"Fergal, sweetie?"

"Sweetie?" Shawn's voice was heard in the background and Finn realized that the first voice was Lily's mom. "Need I remind you that he defiled our daughter under our roof? I shouldn't have to because you knew before I did!"

"Shh!" she hushed him. "I'm calling on behalf of my husband because I know he's too prideful to contact you himself."

"I can take it from here," Shawn interrupted. "A few weeks have gone by and I'm aware that you've been secretly transporting Lily from show to show. I wanted to put a stop to it but it's been brought to my attention by Lily and then confirmed by my wife that there have been no further embarrassing incidents since she's been back under your watch. This was a very difficult decision to make and the truth is, I don't want you within 50 feet of my daughter but until she matures, I'll allow it."

"Oh, I, uh," Finn didn't quite know how to respond.

"She explained to me that you two were still on hiatus and I'd prefer it to stay that way. Strictly business but if these last few months have taught me anything it's that Lily is going to do what she wants. Let's get one thing straight, Balor, I am by no means giving you permission to have _sex…_ " Shawn said the word 'sex' as if it tasted bad on his tongue"…with my daughter and it damn sure isn't a blessing to carry on whatever relationship you two had. You'll never get the greenlight for any of that if it has to come from Michael Shawn Hickenbottom."

"Maybe this isn't the time to ask this but do you hate me specifically for Lily or would you have felt this way about any of the guys in the back?" Finn boldly asked.

"You're right, this isn't the time," Shawn replied. "But yeah, you're hired again. I'll see you at Raw."

"And make sure you control that Cathy bitch!" Lily's mom yelled in the background before the call disconnected.

Finn smiled to himself about the slight victory he'd just won before scrolling through his contacts to find Lily.

She answered on the first ring. "Hey, have you left yet?"

"No, I got sidetracked by a phone call from your mommy and daddy," he revealed. "How did he know we were still traveling together?"

"I'm too embarrassed to say," she groaned.

"Lily, you saw me beat to a bloody pulp and I washed vomit out of your hair. The word embarrassment doesn't exist between us anymore."

"Okay," Lily paused, sighing. "I already had an Uber account before and that's the one I used to catch my rides. Of course my dad's card was linked to it and I didn't think to remove it now that I have my own cards. So when he finally looked at his statement he was confused as to why he was being charged for 2 and 3 mile trips to the arena. I had no other choice but to come clean."

"Wait," Finn erupted into laughter. Sometimes he forgot her age and moments like this reminded him.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny," Lily said all while laughing herself.

"Well, it all worked out in the end so…"

"It did? He told mom and me that he'd consider it but I thought he was only saying that to shut us up," she said.

"No, he was telling the truth apparently. He did give restrictions such as he wants me to keep things strictly business while also acknowledging that you're going to make your own decisions regardless."

"Aww, he's learning," she cooed. "Well, I'm about to go through TSA so I'll see you this evening."

* * *

It was now Sunday and Lily was in the middle of her match against Nia. She felt like crap and Nia throwing her around didn't make it any better. The crowd was booing. Lily didn't know if it was because they were still upset with Nia for injuring Becky a few weeks ago or if they genuinely cared that she was being beat up. Maybe it was a mix of both. She'd been putting on great matches every time she went out so the crowd didn't give her hate anymore and online she'd only get a few occasional trolls…and Finn fangirls calling her a drunk who didn't deserve him.

Her legs felt weak and she could barely run the ropes. Nia tagged in Tamina who Lily was booked to make a comeback on and get the win but she felt lightheaded and dizzy so she tagged a confused Ember in to pick up the win for their team.

Lily had barely made it backstage in time to drape herself over the toilet bowl in the bathroom. She washed her hands and splashed water on her face. In the mirror, she noticed a stall opening and made direct eye contact with Alexa who joined her at the sink.

"Pre-match drinks?" Alexa asked after a long awkward silence.

"I haven't tasted alcohol since that fateful night," Lily denied.

"Oh, wow. I was actually kidding during my promo a few weeks ago but I guess you really are pregnant with Baby Balor."

"I'm not pregnant. I _think_ I have food poisoning. Fergal finds the weirdest eating establishments to take me to in different towns. So I woke up sick like this… _and still went out there and out worked your average match_ ," she mumbled the last bit to herself.

"Food poisoning, you _think_ ," Alexa put her hands up and backed away. "I have enough medical issues, I don't need another."

"Lilith, you look horrible," Finn commented when he found Lily backstage after the show.

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious! You're pale, sweaty and you look like you'll collapse at any second. You knew you were sick this morning and I begged you to pull out of your match tonight but you went out there anyway in this condition," he felt her forehead with the back of his hand. "Jesus, you're burning up with a fever."

"Fergal, I'm fine. I just need sleep," she yawned.

"Give me your bags," he slung them over his shoulders. "Let's go."

Lily felt the car stop underneath her. Her eyes were still closed but she could detect bright lights shining on the other side of her lids. She squinted her eyes open and saw ' _Emergency Room'_ in big red flashing letters. "Seriously?"

She didn't remember much after he took her inside. One minute Finn was asking her information as he filled out paperwork and the next minute she was asleep again. When she woke she heard steady beeping. She tried to move and found IVs hanging from her arm. Finn and who she assumed was a female doctor stood at the foot of her hospital bed.

"Ms. Hickenbottom?" the doctor called out.

"Y-yes," Lily weakly acknowledged.

"I'm Dr. Patel and your examination finished about an hour ago," she replied.

"What's wrong with me?" Lily questioned.

"Would you like to tell her?" Dr. Patel looked over at Finn.

Finn walked forward to her bedside. "Lilith, remember when we were climbing up Bray Head and we discussed our future offspring? Well, he or she is coming sooner than we thought," he explained.

"Wha?" Lily was in disbelief as she looked up at the doctor. "Am I...?"

She nodded. "Yes, you're about six weeks along."

"And we've been broken up for about six weeks," Finn added. Lily's heart pounded and the heart monitor picked up in sync. "Lilith, we're going to be parents. Isn't this great and we get the news right in time for Christmas next week?"

"No!" Lily began crying, sobbing hard.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. "I'm the one who was fooled into thinking you were responsible enough to take your pills and it's me who's going to feel Shawn's wrath."

"But my career…"

"You're a Michaels and that means you'll always have a career in WWE. We can both work a reduced schedule that consists only of raw and Pay Per Views once the baby is born."

"Stop trying to make sense of this! My dad is going to kill me. I don't want to see the disappointment on his face grow as my belly does so I'll have to move into your cottage during my pregnancy and you can have your family check on me every now and then."

"Sure, we can do all of that…in about 5 years."

"In 5 years?" Lily gasped. "Wait, so I'm not pregnant?"

"No," the doctor confirmed. "You have a stomach flu. You were dehydrated so we're currently pumping fluids and electrolytes into your system. According to your _baby daddy_ you wrestled a match in your weakened state so your body is physically exhausted."

"And I was just getting used to the idea of being a teen mom," Lily shrugged. "Now what?"

"We want to keep you overnight. I understand that you WWE people do a lot of traveling so hopefully this doesn't throw you too far off schedule," the doctor replied.

"It won't. We're only 2 or so hours away from Raw's location so we can easily knock that out in the morning. I'm already comfortable so I might as well stay."

" _Thank you so much for bringing me here and not letting me potentially die in my sleep. I don't know what I'd do without you. Let's get back together so I can stop masturbating to your memories. I love you, Fergie,"_ Finn mocked her after the doctor left.

"Your American country girl accent sounds more like Mickie James than me," Lily snorted. "You did get three things right in that statement though. I'll let you figure out which is which."

"Let's see, thank you so much?"

"Yep."

"I don't know what I'd do without you?"

"Uh hmm."

"You masturbate to my memories," he teased.

"You wish! Skip to the next sentence."

"Well, if you love me, why disregard the thought of us getting back together?"

"I told you already," she sighed. "I want to focus on me and my career right now. Add in my family life and I'm spread pretty thin. I'm hospitalized for god sakes."

"Speaking of family, should I call Shawn since I'm technically back on duty?"

"No, I don't think this is serious enough to bother him with. He probably isn't flying out until the morning which means he's still home so my mother will be worried as well."

Lily's phone rang. Her first instinct felt for her pockets until realizing she was in a hospital gown. Finn dug into the pile of clothes on the sofa.

"It's H," he read the screen.

"What? How does he know?" she asked aloud. She didn't recall seeing any fans that could've spread the word that they were there.

"The only person who recognized me was some old guy and somehow I doubt he knows what Twitter, Instagram or Reddit is," Finn replied, handing her the phone.

"Maybe he has a grandchild," Lily muttered, sliding the bar. "Everything is okay, Hunter. No need to worry."

"Worry about what?" What are you talking about, Lily? What are you up to?" Hunter sounded legitimately confused.

"Oh, nothing. What's up?"

"I've booked you on an early morning talk show with Alexa to promote tomorrow night's Raw," he informed.

"Me?" Lily's brow scrunched. "Do you think I'm ready for that?"

"Sure, you're pretty well spoken when you aren't arguing with me and Shawn," he chuckled.

"What's the catch?" she asked.

"Statistics on underage drinking were just released and it's crazy. This will be a great opportunity to clean up your image and turn a negative into a positive by speaking out against it," he explained.

"What time?"

"8 AM but of course you'll have to arrive by at least 7:30. I assume you and Finn are on your way to the next stop so you won't have to make the drive in the morning."

Lily glanced over at the heart monitor. "Yeah, we are."

"Alright, I'll see you backstage tomorrow. Goodnight," Hunter said.

"Goodnight," she replied. "Fergal, find Dr. Patel and tell her to get my discharge papers ready. We have to get out of here ASAP."

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you on the way," in a quick move, Lily pulled the IV out of her arm with a hiss and blood began to stream from the tear in her vein.

"What the fuck?!" Finn exclaimed in horror.

"We have to go," she replied, standing to her feet. She was still weak but she felt a lot better than she did earlier. She concluded that if she drunk a gallon of water and got some sleep once they made it to the hotel, she'd be fine.

* * *

She was right. When she woke the next morning, there was still lingering feelings of sickness but her health had gone from 15% to 75%. By tomorrow or maybe even that night she'd be 100%. Concealer did its job and covered the dark circles under her eye and blush brought color to her cheeks.

She heard the door that connected her room to Finn's open. He appeared in the bathroom door with a breakfast tray but she didn't want to chance it knowing that she wasn't fully recovered. "Thanks but please no. I don't even want to look at food right now. Imagine another barfing caught on camera."

"Yeah, if they gave Nattie a farting gimmick a few years ago, giving you a vomiting gimmick won't be too far out there."

"Eww," Lily shivered. "I wish I had Alexa's number so we could touch base and stuff."

"I have it," Finn said pulling out his phone.

Lily raised a brow. "You do?"

"Calm down, it's not like that. She's in one of the group chats we have going."

"Why am I not a part of any group chats? I'm in one with a few of the women but they never talk about anything worth noting."

"Well, before the reveal you were known as this random girl who got lucky and now you're the daughter of Shawn Michaels and not to mention you practically live in Hunter's office so people may not feel comfortable saying what they really think in your presence yet…"

Lily was taken aback. "Wow, I have complaints and gripes about this company of my own so I'm not interested in running back to Hunter or my dad to tell on anyone. I bet Ashley is in the group."

"Yeah but everyone knows Charlotte by now and Ric isn't our boss like Hunter is. Don't worry about it. Give it some time," he replied.

"Whatever, what's the number," Lily had her phone ready to type.

 **Lily: Alexa?**

 **Alexa: Who is this? *eyes emoji***

 **Lily: It's me, Lily. I don't know if they told you but we're doing an interview together this morning.**

 **Alexa: How did you get this number?**

 **Lily: One of your basement dwelling fanboys (aka 80% of your fanbase) shared it on Twitter.**

 **Alexa: What?!**

 **Lily: Just kidding, I got it from Fergal.**

 **Alexa: Room 537.**

 **Lily: Omw.**

Lily knocked and Alexa answered with a finger pressed to her lip, signaling quiet. When she entered the room, she saw the reason why. Alexa's fiance, Buddy Murphy was asleep in bed.

Alexa escorted Lily into the bathroom and analyzed her appearance. "It's almost 7, why aren't you dressed?"

"I am dressed," Lily looked down at herself wearing a blue sweater and jeans.

"Dressed for what? Dave and Busters?"

"I got the call for this at midnight. There were no malls open so I had nothing else to wear," Lily explained.

"When you stay ready, you don't have to get ready, _newbie_. Just like you pack 3 or 4 different ring gears, _always_ pack a few business casual looks. That's rule number 1. You don't know what management will spring on you at the last minute. A visit to a museum or a children's hospital or an interview," Alexa opened her bag. "You're like an inch or two taller than me but you're still skinny enough to fit something of mine."

Lily noticed the assortment of black that Alexa shuffled around in her bag. "Do you have anything less…funeral-ish? I'd think so considering all the pink you were to the ring."

"Rule number 2. Always establish the difference between your gimmick and your reality. Alexa Bliss likes sparkles and pink. Lexi Kaufman isn't that flashy. Plus, black is slimming," Alexa quietly finished. That's when Lily remembered her previous eating disorder and for a moment Alexa seemed human.

Lily fitted herself in a black skirt suit. "I'll take this home and wash it and have it back to you next week."

"No, you can burn it when you're done. I don't want your sickness or alcoholism to rub off on me," and just like that Alexa transitioned from human back to evil blonde robot.

"I'm conflicted. I can't exactly call you a bitch after you were nice enough to dress me."

"As it should be. It's time," Alexa walked into the hallway and saw Finn waiting. "Must you follow her everywhere? I suppose you are old enough to be her dad so maybe that's where your fatherly concern stems from."

"Maybe Murphy should've been following you everywhere especially during that first Mixed Match Challenge. Team Little Big, anyone _?_ They brought him up to 205 Live just in time," Finn shot back.

Lily watched Alexa memorize her talking points backstage at the show. She turned to Finn. "I'm so nervous."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Finn encouraged her. "You've been great on the mic so far. If you can talk in front of at least 12,000 people in the arena, you can talk in front of 100 people in the studio audience."

"Yeah, but the difference is when I talk I'm in a wrestling ring, my element. Today I have to speak with 2 overly botoxed hosts silently judging me and an at home audience of suburban housewives who probably can't tell you what WWE stands for. Neither World Wrestling Entertainment nor Walk With Elias. Speaking of the at home audience, this show averages around 11 million viewers every morning. The last Raw was 2.19 million thanks to football season and the sucky writing."

"Okay," Alexa cleared her throat, interrupting Lily's conversation. "Let me do most of the talking. You just smile, nod while I speak and wait until they bring up your incident."

"Actually, that's fine with me," Lily replied.

Lily watched on the monitor as the hosts walked out and did their opening monologues. "WWE will be live tonight here in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Arena. Please welcome our first guests, Alexa Bliss and Lily Michaels."

Lily smiled and nodded as Alexa shilled tonight's show, talked up the women's revolution and even threw in Vince McMahon's appearance tonight.

"Have you two had any run ins with each other yet, Lily?" one of the hosts asked. She asked Lily by name so she had no other choice but to respond.

"Uhm, we had a little preview of a feud a few weeks ago but we're friends, for now," Lily fake smiled at Alexa who fake smiled back in return.

"Lily, we saw your very handsome boyfriend backstage. He's WWE Superstar, Finn Balor," the other host said and a shirtless picture of him appeared on screen which led to a lot of ooohs from the mostly female audience.

"Oh God," Lily cringed. She thought about denying their relationship but she wouldn't give Cathy the satisfaction of seeing her publicly disown him. "Yeah, Finn is amazing, unreal and mine. I love him to death and he truly inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing in this business," Lily heard awwws from the crowd.

"He inspires you more than your father, WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels? How does he feel about your relationship?"

"I think it goes without saying that my father is my idol and the reason why I wanted to do this but it's nice to have someone on your level going through it with you and that's what Finn is. My father is... _adjusting_ to our relationship," Lily finished.

It was now the other hosts turn to speak. "Speaking of father, nepotism is dominating the entertainment industry whether it's modeling,acting, singing and it seems the wrestling industry is no different. Alexa, you're a self-made, homegrown wrestler, do you think Lily has it easier than you?"

"I-uh, well," Alexa was thrown off by the question and the answer definitely wasn't found in her talking points.

"Let me answer that question for you, Alexa. Yesterday, I unknowingly woke with a stomach flu. I rode 5 hours in a car to get from Saturday's house show location to Sunday's. I worked a 20 minute match against a 272 pound Samoan woman, I checked into a hospital where I was diagnosed with the stomach flu plus exhaustion. I ripped the IV out of my arm when I learned about this appearance and if I'm allowed, I'll be wrestling again tonight so make sure you all come out to see the show. If that's my easy ride, I'd hate to be on a bumpy one," the audience clapped at her answer.

Alexa cleared her throat. "As long as she works hard for her spot, I have no issue with her last name. Clearly she's willing to put in the work and is on the right track."

"She's on the right track, _professionally_ but a few weeks ago a video of Lily intoxicated made its rounds on social media…"

Lily refused to watch as they played a clip of the video. "The night it happened, I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking about my family, I wasn't thinking about the other women in the locker room and I wasn't thinking about my reputation. Women in WWE are on the rise and with that, I'm bound to attract little girls and teens who'll look up to me as a role model. I feel horrible knowing that when you Google my name, the TMZ article is one of the top results. I've done a lot of research and found out that each year, approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking. This includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings. Together, WWE and I are working on a project to get that number down by this time next year. Remember kids, underage drinking is not cool, when the video goes viral, you'll look like a fool."

"So what's this project?" Finn asked after the interview was done.

"There is no project but it sounded good," Lily shrugged. "We'll have to come up with something now which may actually make a difference so there's that."

* * *

"Knock, knock!" Lily said in time with her actual knocking. She opened the door to see Shawn and Hunter on the other side. "So what did I do wrong today, guys?"

"Actually, we're very proud of how you conducted yourself in the interview today. They threw a few hardball questions at you and you knocked it out of the park," Hunter praised.

"Yeah, you did outstanding, Lily. However, you could've kept that Finn lovefest to yourself," Shawn added.

"What was I supposed to say? We're not together anymore and this is why. First, we secretly snuck around with each other until my dad caught us via sext messages given to him by Finn's deranged ex. My dad beat him up, I decided to stay with him until the pressure became too much for me to handle. I'm sure the dirt sheets would have eaten that up big time," Lily scoffed.

"A simple 'we aren't together anymore' would've sufficed," Shawn replied.

"She did the right thing," Hunter said. "There's nothing the suburban mom demographic loves more than a attractive power couple. Since that interview searches on " _Lily Michaels and Finn Balor_ ," " _Finn Balor shirtless_ ," and " _Finn Balor bulge_ " have doubled. Let's do the math, curious suburban mom's will tune into Raw tonight. Suburban moms will introduce their kids to the product to have an excuse to go when the show comes to their city. Suburban Mom's kid's want merch. Suburban Mom uses Suburban Dad's credit card to buy. We profit."

"How nice of you to exploit, I mean, _approve of_ our relationship now that it's over," Lily rolled her eyes. "But yeah, you're proud of me, where's my reward. Can I win the gauntlet match tonight?"

"Lily, you're not even going to be in the gauntlet match tonight. You went on national television and told the world that you were hospitalized last night. There's no way I can send you out there without looking like a slave driver," Hunter replied.

"We're on the road 300 days a year away from our families and friends. You _are_ a slave driver!" Lily countered.

"If you wanted to get out there with an injury that would be fine because it affects you only but we're talking a stomach flu. Do you not remember last year when Bray Wyatt came down with a case of the mumps and it sideline Roman, Bo and Jojo? Yeah, we don't want that to happen again especially in the women's locker room. It's only like 10 of you in there."

"I ran into Nia earlier and she wasn't sick. I also did the interview with Alexa and she isn't sick either…"

"...yet," Shawn said. "He's telling you right, Lily. One thing you can't be in this business is selfish and putting your locker room at risk is being just that."

"But, we're taping next week's Raw after this one is finished so if you don't let me out there I'll miss two straight shows! I had custom Christmas gear made for tonight. I even packed a Santa hat," Lily pouted. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Enjoy your night off," Hunter stood, looking at his watch. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm in the opening segment and it's almost show time."

"Every time I start picking up steam you find a way to ruin it," Lily mumbled.

"Excuse me? So I infected you with the stomach flu virus in an attempt to hold you back," he asked humorously.

"Stranger things have happened here in WWE," Lily shot back.

"What to do…What to do..." Lily wondered aloud as she wandered aimlessly backstage too afraid to step into the women's locker room even though she felt much better now. Finn's match was on and she hadn't watched him wrestle in a while so she decided to stop in front of a monitor in gorilla. He was wrestling Dolph. She noticed Drew standing in wait behind the curtain and knew it was going to be a screwy ending.

"Are you flying home with me or going to Orlando?" Shawn crept up behind her.

"I'm done with all my Christmas shopping so I guess I'm going home," she answered.

"You were in the hospital and didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you," she said. "I know the only reason you're allowing us to be around each other is for babysitting purposes but thank god he was there. I was not going to get checked out on my own. As it turned out, I was in pretty bad shape."

"My hero," Shawn mocked sarcastically.

"Dad!"

"Fine, whatever," he rolled his eyes. "I'm happy that he took care of you but don't expect me to kiss his ass."

"No, but you can thank him," she replied.

The match was over and like Lily suspected, Drew attacked both men.

"I've changed my mind. What am I even thanking him for? He's damn near 40. Why the hell should I be impressed that he used common sense and took a feverish girl to the hospital?!"

"Because that feverish girl was your daughter who initially refused. Stomach flu plus dehydration plus exhaustion is not a good combination of things to leave untreated," she pointed out.

"Fine," Shawn grumbled.

Lily met Finn at the curtain when he entered. She traced a single bead of sweat that fell from his chest to his belly button.

"I'd ask you to go a few inches lower but Shawn is burning a hole through my head," he said.

"About that," Lily grabbed his hand and walked him over. "Dad, don't you have something to say to Fergal?"

Shawn was frowning and his lips were set in a straight line. Lily cleared her throat and he inhaled deep through his nostrils before extending his hand. "Thank you for taking Lily to the hospital. I don't want to think about what would've happened if you didn't."

"It was no problem, Shawn. I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I didn't take her not knowing what could've happened in the night. I just wanted to make sure she was okay," Finn replied.

"Well, I'm done here since Hunter banned me from wrestling," Lily remarked.

"I have to stay because I'm wrestling Ziggler and McIntyre in a three way tonight for next week's show."

"I'm going to miss you so much. No house shows this weekend, no Raw next Monday. It's going to be a long week," she hugged him. "I assume you're going to Ireland, huh?"

"I am and I want you to come with me," Finn requested, a small smile playing around his lips.

"Ferg, we're technically not together. Your mom is probably still disappointed in me and I don't have Frankie so your nieces and nephew will be disappointed as well. Plus, this is the first Christmas that I have a job and my own money so I bought my parents gifts and want to be there to present them."

"I understand," he nodded. "It would've been nice to have you there though."

"There's always next year but in the meantime..." Lily held an imaginary mistletoe over her head and he didn't hesitate to bring his head down to hers. Their lips met and she'd finally realized that she'd been missing a piece of herself for the last six weeks. She opened her mouth readily to his tongue and moaned.

"Enough!" Shawn yelled, prying them apart. He tossed Lily his rental car keys. "You go get your shit and wait for me in the car. I'm going to set _Fergal_ here straight."

"Dad!"

"Go!" he hissed, pointing to emphasis it.

She couldn't meet Finn's eyes as she turned knowing she'd gotten him in trouble with her father again. As she walked off she heard the beginning of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Shawn, I got a little carried away," Finn said.

"Damn right you did and right in front of me!" Shawn replied.

* * *

Lily woke Christmas morning to Frankie barking at her bedside wearing a dog Santa sweater. "Merry Christmas to you, too. I guess you smelled your treat, huh?"

She went reached on top of the dresser and threw him a gingerbread man dog biscuit. Stepping out of her room, she saw that her mom had gone overboard on Christmas decorations this year. Christmas lights twinkled around every door frame, and all available wall space displayed a wreath or a star or some other Christmas trinket. It was treading a thin line between festive and tacky. She could smell food already.

Lily found her mom icing cookies and Shawn reading a newspaper when she walked into the kitchen. "Good Morning, parents. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Lily," they said simultaneously.

"Okay, let's get right into it," Lily pulled a bag from behind her back. "Since you two have been going first the last 17 years, I guess it's finally my turn. Dad, I bought you a new hunting watch and Mom, I got you a VIP membership to the best spa in San Antonio. I covered the cost for the next 2 years."

They thanked her for her gifts and now it was there time to present. She noticed that her Mom held an envelope but it was Shawn who went first.

"Close your eyes," he asked like he did every year. Since she was 12 years old, Shawn bought her a new purse every Christmas. The only surprise was the brand and color. She heard him shuffling and he cleared his throat. "Okay."

She gasped when she saw a powder blue Chanel bag held in front of her face. "No way! You will not believe this but Fergal and I were out one day and I pointed out this exact same purse on a woman's shoulder. This is crazy. I love it!"

"Thank you," the accent gave Lily pause and that's when she noticed that it wasn't Shawn's hand dangling the purse in front of her.

"What?!" Lily pushed back from the table. "Fergal? What are you doing here?"

"Shawn invited me," he informed her and she raised a brow. "I was surprised, too."

She turned her head to address her father. "Okay, if the purse is from him, what did you get me?"

"My gift is allowing him to set foot in my house again after what happened the last time...and the new iPhone that's no different from the last," Shawn said, placing the box on the table in front of her.

"And this is mine," her mom said, sliding her the envelope. Lily felt it before opening it. She slid the contents into her palm. It was plane tickets that she read aloud.

"Let's see. First class...December 31, 2018 from San Antonio to...IRELAND! This is not happening!" she shook her head in disbelief. "I'm going back to bed and then I'm going to wake up because clearly this is a very vivid dream of some sorts."

"It's real...unfortunately," Shawn begrudgingly confirmed.

"Can you guys excuse us for a moment," Lily said, dragging him away.

"Leave the door open!" Shawn yelled behind them.

"Unlike your dad, when my dad says it, he means it," Lily laughed. "What are you doing here? I saw fan pictures of you in Ireland so you were there as of yesterday!"

"Yeah, I went to celebrate with my family early and left in time to be here with you. When Shawn invited me, I knew I couldn't pass up this rare opportunity," he replied.

"I'm so glad you didn't. I was going to be okay this morning but I was probably going to be lonely later on today knowing that I have a life outside of here now," she smiled. "I freaking love you."

"I freaking love you, too," he returned.

"Did Frankie see you this morning?"

"Yes, I'm the one who brought him the Santa outfit. His excited barking was so loud when I walked through the door, we thought he'd wake you."

"Well, he came in here to wake me, I guess but I thought his hyper behavior was over a dog treat," she laughed.

Finn held his phone high above his head. "I told my parents that I would Facetime them when I arrived."

"Hiiii," Lily greeted when she saw Finn's parents appear on screen.

"Merry Christmas, Lily," Leonie and Fintan greeted.

"Nollaig Shona Duit," Lily struggled to say. She planned on sending it to Finn in a text later and Google translate told her that it meant, Happy Christmas or something like that. She knew she didn't pronounce it right judging by their facial expressions.

"Uh, it's NO-Lihg HO-nuh ghwich," he gently corrected.

"Oh, sorry, what he said," she smiled awkwardly.

"It's okay. You get an A for effort," Fintan replied. "At least you care about his culture."

"If he's running out before Christmas on us to be with you, I assume you two have reconciled," Leonie questioned.

"Have we?" Finn pressed for an answer.

"We have," Lily kissed him on his cheek. "As a matter of fact, we will be spending New Years with you guys next week."

"Fergal, for the love of god, please teach her how to pronounce Happy New Year before she arrives," Fintan joked.

"Ha ha," Lily responded sarcastically.

"Alright you two," Finn said. "Mum, Dad, I, I mean, _we_ will see you next week."

"Bye guys," Lily waved.

"Did you really mean that or did you only say it to spare my feelings in front of my parents?" he asked.

"I meant it. I can't believe I let myself stay romantically separated from you as long as I did. Forgive me," she pleaded.

"There's nothing to forgive. You felt overwhelmed with everything happening so fast and you had every right to take a step back from it all. The way I saw it, we were never separated. We were just platonically dating," he assured her and this seemed to brighten Lily.

"Lily, come help me prepare the table," Lily's mom called out from the kitchen.

Lily pulled out a Christmas tablecloth and Finn helped her spread it. "If I knew you were coming, I would've tried to make one of those dishes I helped your mom with to make you feel at home."

"No, this is fine," he replied, taking his spot beside her at the table. He cleared his throat. "Shawn, for you to invite me here today let's me know that you, A. trust me or B. tolerate me. Either way, I feel like this is a new beginning and I don't want to start it with lies or deception therefore it's my duty to inform you that Lily and I are back together as a couple."

Shawn never stopped carving the turkey. "Shit, my arm is tired already."

"I can't believe he refused to acknowledge what you said," Lily said later as she forced him to watch some of her favorite Netflix movies.

"Well, it's better than him jumping across the table on me holding that huge knife he had," Finn shrugged.

"Before I met you I thought he was going to be my husband," Lily spoke of Noah Centineo on her screen.

"Him?" Finn looked confused and slightly disgusted.

"What can I say? I have a thing for infectious smiles," she shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better you're hotter and his chin is weak."

"Will you get mad if I tell you that I've hated every movie you've shown me tonight especially the ones starring your husband? I don't know why but I just couldn't get into them."

"I know why. It's because you're old!" she teased.

"That's one thing you've never had a problem with," he winked.

"You want to know the best part about being back together is…" she trailed off as she slid her hand down waist and to his crotch, squeezing him through his jeans. It felt like a steel rod in her hands and he groaned in response.

"Lilith, I'm not on Shawn's bad side, I'm not on his good side. For now it feels neutral and in order for it to stay that way you need to kindly remove your hand. It's been six weeks. Six long, _hard_ weeks and now knowing that I can have you again is going to make me not only close that door but lock it as well," he said, placing her hand on the bed. He looked around her bedroom. "It's nice to finally see your room in the light."

"It's nice to finally have you back in here because never in a million years did I think you'd set foot in my house again, let alone the place where the magic happened," Lily yawned. Both heads turned when they heard light tapping on the open door and saw her mom.

"I assume you're here to show me to my room," Finn commented.

"Actually, Shawn is going to show you to your room...across town," she said, flashing a key card. "He's in the holiday spirit alright but he's not cheerful enough to make the same mistake twice. You two may be a couple again but there will be no after hours couple _activity_ under our roof. I know you two have to fly to New York tomorrow for the Holiday Tour so you're welcome back in the morning to have breakfast with us."

* * *

" _Enough!" Shawn yelled, prying them apart. He tossed Lily his rental car keys. "You go get your shit and wait for me in the car. I'm going to set Fergal here straight."_

" _Dad!"_

" _Go!" he hissed, pointing to emphasis it._

 _Lily looked embarrassed and couldn't look at him as she walked away._

" _I'm sorry, Shawn, I got a little carried away," Finn apologized._

" _Damn right you did and right in front of me!" Shawn replied._

" _Shawn, Raw isn't even in its second hour yet and we have to turn around a film it again for next week so it's going to be a long night for me. Can you save the_ 'stay the hell away from my daughter' _rant for another time? I bought Lily a present so can you sneak it under the tree for me? I have to retrieve it from my bag in the locker room so if you have a minute to spare I'll go get it."_

" _No!" Shawn replied._

" _Come on, Shawn. It's Christmas," Finn begged._

" _You're a 37 year old man," Shawn said._

" _I am," Finn was confused by the comment, wondering where he was going with this._

" _I'm sure you've spent plenty of years at home with your family during the holiday so I don't think it'll hurt you to miss one…"_

" _What are you saying?" Finn thought he had an idea but with Shawn he couldn't be too sure._

" _I'm saying you can give that present to her yourself," he clarified._

" _Shawn, are you inviting me over for Christmas?!" Finn's lips spread into a smile._

" _Don't get too excited," Shawn warned._

"Are we okay, Shawn?" Finn asked during the car ride to the hotel.

"The only reason I invited you here is because I couldn't stand to see my daughter unhappy during her first adult Christmas and because you were there when she was sick. Now you two are back together. Should've known it would happen. Only time will tell if we're okay, Fergal," Shawn replied. "You asked me if I hated you or if I wouldn't felt this way about any of the guys. Out of all the guys you're the one I liked and respected most of all. You're a good kid, Fergal. The truth is, after a few years when Lily was at least 21, I probably would've offered her to you so none of the other assholes would get to her but you going behind my back and stealing my 18 year old daughter was the ultimate betrayal."

"That's the thing, Shawn. Lily isn't an object that can be offered or stolen. We _chose_ each other. Yes, I do regret going behind your back but from now own I'm going to be straightforward with you about our relationship. I love her and one day we're going to get married and give you lots of grandchildren to destroy your wife's decorations…"

"Fergal, this isn't a movie or some sappy romance novel so if you're looking for a feel good moment where we hug it out and I realize that you were what was best for her from the beginning and I was too stubborn to realize it, that's not happening," Shawn shook his head as the car came to a stop. "The best I can do is tell you that I won't interfere unless I have to."

"I'll take it," Finn said, stepping out of the car. "You enjoy the rest of your Christmas, Shawn."

* * *

Lily decided to make use of her Christmas ring gear. Her dad returned from dropping Finn of 30 minutes ago and the house was silent. Being as quiet as possible, she tiptoed out of her room and headed to the door.

A lamp in the living room clicked on, illuminating the area to reveal her parents sitting on the sofa. The sight caused her to jump.

Shawn cleared his throat. "It's Christmas night so there will be a lot of drunk driving and craziness going on. You be careful out there."

"T-that's it?" Lily blinked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Go before I change my mind, Lily..."

"Okay," Lily grabbed the doorknob before looking back again. "Not even a curfew?"

"Lily!" Shawn huffed.

When Lily arrived to the hotel, she walked right up to the front desk attendant. "Hi, did Michael Hickenbottom book a room here?"

"Yeah, Shawn Michaels. He did," she confirmed.

"Well I'm his daughter," Lily said, flashing her driver's license. "And I was wondering if I could have the key to that room."

"Sure. I've seen you on RAW a few times," the woman nodded.

Lily slid the key card in Finn's hotel door and slowly opened it.

When she entered his expression changed from frightened to relief and then panicked. "What are you doing here? Shawn is going to kill us both if he wakes and doesn't find you in bed! I'm finally gaining some ground with him, let's not piss it away."

"Relax, in a strange turn of events, he saw me leave…"

"Well he said he wasn't going to interfere anymore but I didn't think it'd immediately take effect. Did he know where you were going?"

"Fergal, it's 11:45 PM. I'm wearing assless chaps with candy cane patterns and a matching bralette up top. I'm sure he knows I'm not going Christmas caroling with a church choir," she snorted.

"He wants you back in an hour, huh?"

"I wondered the same but no, I'm yours all night," she said seductively.

"I don't recall receiving a Christmas gift from you today…"

"I kind of thought you were going to be in another country today so I didn't bother but I can give you something I've never given you before…" She slid down his body and onto her knees, pulling his pants and briefs down with her. It popped out, springing to life. "Oh, hi there."

Her tongue made contact with his head just as a test. It tasted like skin, not gross or dirty like she expected but of course Finn was cleaner than most men. She pressed her tongue on the underside and he shuddered. She carefully licked up and down the length, feeling the ridges and curves of him.

Finn pulled her by her forearms into a standing position. He struggled to remove her chaps until she unbuttoned them in the front. She could feel a sense of urgency in his touch so she didn't want to delay things any further. Lily bent herself over the bed and he wasted no time accepting her invitation. He grasped her hips again and began sinking into her body gently but firmly. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. She couldn't believe how much she missed the feeling of him inside of her.

He started slowly, but quickly increased the pace until the room filled with the slapping sound of his actions. She began thrusting back against him, moaning loudly, unbelievable pleasure emitting through her body. By the time she felt her orgasm starting to build he grunted loudly and stilled against her.

"Wait, did you...?"

"Babe, I told you, it's been six long, hard weeks without you. I'm surprised I lasted that long to be honest," he laughed. "Give me a few minutes to recover and we can go into round 2."

"No, it's fine. I forgot you had to take a long flight to get here so rest. We have tomorrow night, the night after that and the night after that to pick up where we left off," she smiled, moving to lie on a pillow.

He didn't say anything as he joined her on the bed. Only his spent body, heavy breathing and strong arms holding her tight spoke to her for a while. "We're back."

"We are and legitimately this time," she replied. "I just thought about something?"

"What?"

"I attempted to tell your parents Merry Christmas and you corrected me on how to tell them Merry Christmas but we never told each other Merry Christmas..."

He clicked his phone and it was after midnight. "Yeah, Christmas ended about 45 minutes ago…"

"Okay, well, I wish you a Too Sweet Holiday," her fingers formed the iconic hand gesture and he met it with his own. "Goodnight Gorgeous."


	11. Pillow Talk

**I don't consider this to be an actual chapter but more of a quick "filler" so there would be some sort of update while I prepare my Royal Rumble chapter. So don't expect much development or drama. LOL!**

* * *

"What are you doing?" Lily heard Finn groggily ask from the comfort of her pillow Wednesday morning.

She was browsing Twitter and came across the Mandy Rose hotel segment. "So, I'm watching this Smackdown clip from last night. I know they wouldn't put me in that position because my dad would never allow it but what if I was just a random girl on the roster. How would you feel if they asked me to be filmed wearing lingerie in a hotel room with a Superstar?"

"Is the Superstar me?"

"No, that's the point."

"Well, I wouldn't hinder what could be a big break for you because of my own jealousy but if you weren't comfortable doing it, I would advise you to tell them. With the climate we're in today they can't really force you to do it unless you're okay with it," he stated. "However, if you agreed to it, just know that I'd be standing directly behind the cameraman watching like a hawk."

"I expect nothing less otherwise I'd be sorely disappointed because I was sure watching Bayley's hands every single time they can within an inch of you during the Mixed Match Challenge," she laughed.

"How long have you been up?" Finn asked, suppressing a yawn as he sat up shirtless against the headboard of Lily's bed.

"I don't know. Long enough to make breakfast, shower, watch you sleep, play with your penis in it's rare flaccid form and see what the fans were talking about online so maybe a little over an hour," she replied.

"Watching me sleep _and_ molesting me...and they say men are the creeps," he joked.

"Exactly how many times since we've gotten back together have I woken to grayish-blueish eyes staring in my face and I woke up this morning with your hand clasped to my boob so let's not get into a who out-creeps who contest…"

"Because it would end in a tie," he added.

"Lies!"

"Anyway, what are the fans talking about?" he inquired.

"Same old, same old. I'm only here because of my dad. The AEW hype is real so I hope they deliver or there will be some very upset smarks. Your promo and win have been very well received. It definitely shut those, ' _all he does is smile and pose_ ' people up," Lily was very happy about this opportunity her boyfriend was receiving but her mind couldn't help but revert to his last big Universal Championship PPV singles match. It was against Seth Rollins and it ended with an injury that derailed his career for 6 months. "Can I say something?"

"Of course."

"I'm scared to death thinking about you stepping into a ring with Brock," she admitted.

"Babe, I've been wrestling since 2000, the same year you were born and during these last 19 years I've faced opponents just as big and strong as Brock," he said.

"Well, I wasn't your girlfriend backstage watching the monitors during those matches but I am now. I'll probably sit this match out because the anxiety of watching his stiff shots and suplexes is going to kill me!"

"Lilith, I'll be fine," he attempted to assure her.

"So you say…" Lily mumbled.

"Sounds like you have no faith in me."

"I have plenty of faith in you. It's Brock I don't trust. He can be a bit reckless in the ring sometimes."

"Yeah, you have a point there," he agreed.

"I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt and I had to be on the road for months without you while you're home in either Ireland or Brooklyn. Speaking of that, move in with me," she proposed suddenly.

"Wow, straight to the point, aren't you?" his brows rose.

"We're dating and we practically spend every waking moment with each other anyway. You haven't spent one single night at your place since the new year because you've been here with me when we're off the road," she pointed out.

"To be honest, I haven't felt at home at my place in Brooklyn for a while. Cathy picked it, Cathy decorated it, we had memories there, we broke up there, she almost ruined my relationship with you there so I don't really have a problem leaving it behind…"

"Why do I feel a _but_ coming on?" she asked suspiciously.

"Probably because I came on yours last night," he snorted. " _But_ , I don't want to give up my place only for Shawn to flip when he finds out that I'm here. Boom, now I'm homeless."

"My dad can't kick you out of _my_ apartment," she declared.

"I'm just trying to keep the peace that we've _finally_ established with Shawn," he said.

"I don't think he'll mind though since he's over us now."

"Yeah, he's over us dating. Moving in together is taking things to another level. I'm fine with it because your pink pillows and sheets are way more comfortable than mine but I doubt he'll cosign us taking this step."

"Let's see," Lily scrolled in her contacts until she found Dad.

"Hello?"

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

"Lily, it's 7:45 AM, I'm sleeping…" Shawn grumbled.

"Oh, right. I forgot that Texas is an hour behind Florida. Sorry."

"Well, I'm present now. What's going on that couldn't wait?"

"Okay, Fergal and I have been thinking about moving in together."

"How long have you been thinking about this because he and I were both at the opening of the UK Performance Center last Friday and when I asked how things were going he didn't mention anything about trying to shack up with you," Lily could tell by his tone that he didn't agree. "Why buy the cow when he can get the milk for free? Hell, he was living with that Cathy girl for years and I never saw an engagement ring of any sorts on either of their fingers. Moving in together too soon is a relationship killer, Lily. Wait, on second thought, maybe you two _should_."

"Bye," Lily replied, ending the call.

"See…" Finn started.

"Well, he never comes here anyway so he won't know. You can still move in as long as we keep your stuff out of sight," she suggested.

"You didn't get enough the first time we snuck around behind his back?" he chuckled. "How about I shower and then go downstairs to talk to the front office about vacancies. I'll get my own where I'll keep all of my stuff but I'll sleep here so _technically_ , I won't be moving in with you at all," he winked.

"Ah, loopholes and that'll be great because you'll have your own space to do male things in," she nodded. "I think I'm going to go down to the Performance Center to train for an hour or two."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Finn asked, his tone conveyed concern.

"Why?" Lily raised a brow.

He tilted his head. "You know why."

"Oh, I've actually forgotten all about _her._ We're still together and you publicly claim me so the winner has been decided in that battle," she reached over to stroke his beard.

"I love you," he smiled.

"I love you, too, Gorgeous and now I have to go," she kissed him before climbing out of bed.

* * *

When Lily entered the NXT locker room, she found it abandoned so she figured that they were out in the practice rings. She got dressed and joined them. It seemed like they were working on conditioning which felt more intense today probably because she was out of practice. It definitely got her heart rate up. Then after that, they broke off into t groups of twos and did basic in-ring sequences and routines. Io Shirai being Lily's partner. They went through a routine of locking up, Lily strikes Io in the gut before throwing her over the ropes, Io attempted to come back in only for Lily to drop kick her through the next sequence consisted of Lily being Irish Whipped into the corner, giving an elbow to Io and then running back at her from the opposite corner only to take a boot to the face.

They went back into conditioning exercises and it'd been well over 2 hours when their trainer, Sara Amato spoke up to give them a 20 minute break.

"Is it bad that I'm totally wiped out right now?" Lily's shirt was completely soaked as she asked Sara the question ringside while everyone else scattered. "Seriously, I don't remember things being this intense when I was here."

"No, it probably wasn't intense to you at that point. You're on the road 4 days a week, 2 weeks straight when you guys are touring and that takes a toll on your body and 3 days isn't enough time to really recharge. Meanwhile, these girls are fresh," Sara explained. "If you want to leave, that's fine. I respect that you came down here. Some of the girls make the main roster and we never see them again."

"Yeah, I can't afford to get lax in my training especially since they throw me out there every week...in meaningless matches," she muttered.

"I think they're just trying to show that you actually have skills first before they strap the rocket to your back for the push."

"I don't even care about a big push right now but can I at least have a complete feud with something on the line even if it's not the title?"

"Is she really complaining? Her last name already made her skip the line to the main roster," someone attempted to whisper. Lily looked around a saw a group huddled a few feet away and she recognized the voice to be Aliyah.

"Uhm, you've been here since 2015. Asuka, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, both Iconiics, Mandy, Sonya, Zelina and now Lacey Evans make up 10 women who signed after you who've gone up to the main roster before you. I'm pretty sure I can name a few here now who are going to beat you there, as well. Let's not even talk about the girls from NXT UK who are going to get the call within a year. None of the girls on that list have famous last names so the problem must be _you_ ," Lily finished, turning her attention back to Sara. "Anyway…"

"Have you ever thought about turning heel?" Sara chuckled.

"I don't think that was heelish at all. I see comments like that online every single day, every hour to be honest. I don't need to hear it a few feet away. Don't blame me because I'm sure if I stayed down here she wouldn't have gone up any sooner," Lily replied. "But no, to answer your question I haven't I haven't thought about turning heel."

"Well, it did wonders for Becky's career," Sara said.

"It was time for Becky to do something after getting the short end of the stick for 2 years. It wouldn't make sense for me right now. I don't know," Lily shrugged. "I was going to stay for another hour but I think it's time for me to shower, get changed and go."

After Lily was changed into fresh clothing, she entered the hall and found Cathy leaning against the wall on the phone. She found that weird considering Cathy had an office of her own so she wondered if Cathy was there on purpose. _Of course she was._

"...yeah, we went on our third date last night and it was my surprise he picked me up for breakfast this morning. This guy is a _REAL_ man and I haven't had that in a looooong time," Cathy touted and Lily wondered if anyone was on the other line at all.

Lily slowed as she passed her and they locked eyes. Cathy seemed to be waiting for a reaction but Lily only smiled which seemed to catch Cathy by surprise.

When she was getting ready to walk out of the door she met Finn.

He smiled awkwardly. "Hi…"

"What are you doing here?"

He seemed to be thinking of an excuse. "I came to work out."

"Where's your bag?"

"Fine, I was coming to check on you," he admitted.

"Good thing you did. I left a trail of tears on the inside…" she snorted and he looked alarmed. "But it wasn't Cathy, _this time_."

"I know you said you weren't going to do anything and it probably wasn't in your plans but I know how she can get under someone's skin and while you were gone my mind kept reverting back to H threatening to suspend you if something happened between you two," he replied.

"I think she did try to get under my skin while raving about her _alleged_ date last night. I'm pretty sure the call ended as soon as I was out of earshot though but if you walk in right now I bet she'll get another."

Finn draped his arm around her shoulder. "I think I'll pass. Come on, let me take you out to lunch so you can tell me how training went."


	12. Losers

Finn watched lustfully as Lily convulsed on top of him. She was still trying to catch her breath when he heard her phone vibrating on the nightstand to his right. Her eyes darted from him to her phone and her arm slowly extended. "Lilith, if you answer that phone I swear to God!"

"But it's Hunter. It'll only take a second," she whispered as she slid the bar. "Hello? Hey, no, I'm not busy at all," she replied, glancing down at Finn. Finn bucked his hips upwards causing her to bite her lips in order to stifle a moan. She pretended to cough before carrying on with the conversation. "Uh huh. Okay, I'll shower, get dressed and be on my way. See you in an hour."

"What was that all about?" he asked when she tossed the phone to the side.

"I don't know," she shrugged, finding herself back in rhythm again. "He said he wants me at the arena in an hour."

"An hour? He wants you there at 1:00? Why so early? We usually don't arrive until about 4:30 and..." he paused, gripping her hips tight, groaning with release. His head fell back against the pillow and he exhaled. "What were we talking about? Oh, you going to the arena at a weird time."

"You can just drop me off if you want," she suggested, crawling off of him. "3 and a half hours is a long time to hang around an empty arena. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go be with the guys for a change. We travel together on the road and with you getting ready to move into my building we'll practically be living together at home. The only time we're apart is during our matches," she laughed. "You deserve some male bonding time to hear about topics other than clothes, my latest Sephora haul and Ariana Grande."

"We talk about way more than that," he replied.

"Yeah, I'll occasionally throw in wrestling, my dad and sex," she snorted.

"Well at least you aren't confronting me about whose pics I like on Instagram or Tumblr rumors that you know aren't true," he said.

"Actually I was contemplating asking you about your one night stand with some ring rat that you allegedly met in a bar. Apparently it was after Raw last week. You told her that we had an argument and I was in the hotel room waiting. Then you two hooked up in a bathroom stall," she shook her head at him. "How dare you?"

Finn whistled. "Sounds like a pretty eventful night."

"I wasn't finished," Lily held up her hand. "You didn't use a condom so I expect a follow-up in a month about how she's pregnant with your baby that you'll pay her to abort."

"No, she'll carry it to term and we'll secretly raise it together while I remain with you as a cover up," he added.

"I take it I have several stepchildren by now?"

"8 and a possible, allegedly."

"A possible?"

"Yeah, this one girl apparently had a one night stand with Kenny Omega two days before hooking up with me so the father could be either of us," Finn explained.

"But you and Kenny look nothing alike so it should be easy for her to tell whose features the baby has. Eh, she probably wants to drag the paternity out for attention," Lily said, playing along. "Did you know that I'm trying to steal Dean Ambrose, a man I've barely made eye contact with, from Renee which is why she unfollowed me on Instagram even though she never followed me in the first place?"

"I believe it. You _did_ steal me from Cathy while we were engaged," he joked.

"Engaged? Engaged in what? Constant arguments and break ups?" Lily snorted, standing to her feet naked. "I'm about to go shower, wanna join me?"

"No, you have to be there in an hour and we've already wasted about 10 minutes. You'll be 2 hours late if I join you…"

Finn cleaned up around the room until a short time later when she walked out of the bathroom looking professional in a pencil skirt and blouse. "Wow, you look nice."

"Yeah, it sounded important so I decided to look the part," she bent over to strap heels around her ankles. "Is it weird that I'm already shopping for my hall of fame gown?"

"No, not really. Mania is literally right around the corner. We were just at my parent's house celebrating New Years and now the Royal Rumble is upon us. In three weeks the Elimination Chamber, three more weeks, Fastlane, four more weeks, boom, Wrestlemania," he replied. "So just let me know when you have a dress or at least a color so I can match accordingly."

"Good deal," she said, placing her bags on the bed.

"You can leave your bags and I'll bring them when I come later," he offered.

"No thanks. I want first dibs on a spot in the locker room for a change. Every time I enter there's already clothes, makeup and bodies cluttered around. I've never seen the inside of the men's locker room but I'm sure it's way more organized than ours."

"Yeah, I doubt it," he mumbled, grabbing her bags and his keys. "Let's go."

When they arrived to the arena, Finn popped the trunk and began carrying her bags until Lily stopped him. "Fergie, you're such a gentleman and I love that but I got this. If I can lift women including Nia Jax in the ring, I think I can handle carrying 2 bags from point A to point B."

Finn acknowledged that she was right. Lily seemed to be growing as a person before his eyes. She wasn't as fragile as she was when they first met. "Alright, call me if you need me."

"You know I will," she planted a kiss on his lips before stepping up on the sidewalk. "Enjoy your freedom."

* * *

"I'll try," Finn said, ducking down into his rental.

Their relationship developed fast. Finn felt a new life had developed for himself. The memories of Cathy were long faded and replaced by new ones with Lily. With Cathy, everything was about her and it felt like dating a narcissistic celebrity even though he was the bigger name of the two.

A big difference was the time spent together. Cathy wasn't on the road much while Lily was by his side at least 21 hours a day. They were pretty much inseparable which made moments like these difficult.

Finn's plan for the evening was simple: a quick workout, shower and eat before going back to the arena. He wasn't surprised when he entered the gym and saw some of his coworkers already there.

"Is Lily in the car or is she changing into workout gear?" Sami asked, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his face with a towel.

"She's not here," Finn informed.

Kevin released a dramatic gasp. "Is she sick and had to stay home?"

"No, she's here in Oklahoma City, but she had some business to take care of," Finn replied.

"Without you? How the hell did that happen? I haven't seen ' _Fily'_ separated in months," Braun noted.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sami raised a brow.

"You guys would probably be amazed to hear that I'm capable of wiping my own ass without Lily, well, most of the time anyway. Lily and I are solid," Finn declared.

He began his workout with 5 sets of Cable Crossovers and 5 sets of Incline Dumbbell Presses before taking a water break.

"You better stop working on building your chest and get to work on your arms for strength to prepare yourself for Lesnar on Sunday," Braun advised. "Trust me, I've been in the ring with him."

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day Prince Devitt fucked his way to the top," Kevin stated and Braun and Sami laughed.

"What?" Finn's brow knitted in confusion.

"Come on, man. You've been in midcard hell for almost a year and then Lily appears. Shawn's daughter and H's goddaughter which would make her Vince's god-granddaughter, I think," Kevin continued. "You two start banging and now you're getting a title shot."

"God-granddaughter? That's not how it works," Finn scoffed defensively. "I mean this with love, Kevin you held the Universal title for almost 200 days and I can't think of a memorable match or moment during your entire reign. Braun, you've been chasing the title for almost 2 years now and have nothing to show for it. And Sami, uhh…"

"Calm down dude, we know you've earned it," Sami replied.

"I guess Lily's hormones are infecting his brain and now he can't take a joke," Kevin added.

"I can take a joke just fine but for future reference, I don't bring up your significant others in a _joking_ manner so it's not okay to do it with Lily just because she's one of us," Finn firmly said.

He finished his workout some time later and hit the showers.

"If you're hungry we're about to go find something to eat," Sami offered.

Finn looked down at his watch. It was 3:45 so he had time to waste before heading to the arena. "Yeah, I can eat."

When Finn made it back to the arena, Lily was nowhere in sight. He decided to put his bags down in the locker room. He stepped over a towel and a pair of discarded briefs, chuckling at Lily's assumption that the men's locker room was organized.

By the time he walked around backstage again, he saw her walking alongside Triple H. They were engaged in conversation when Lily looked up and spotted him, quickly breaking away from H.

"Hello Gorgeous," she greeted.

"Hello yourself," he returned, catching eyes with H. Finn wasn't foolish enough to think H or Shawn liked him all of a sudden but they didn't glare every time they saw his face or cursed him under their breaths anymore and that was more than Finn thought was possible just a few months ago.

"I know it was only a few hours but I missed you!" she cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Of course you did, clinger," he replied, kissing her forehead. "What were you doing here all that time anyway?"

"Do you remember that nonexistent anti-underage drinking project I lied about on national television? It's been a month now and the public began asking questions so we had to deliver on it. Hunter gathered some parents who've lost their children to underage drinking and we filmed some stuff. It was really sad like those anti-smoking commercials where they show former smokers as adults with the effects from smoking."

"Oh, that's great. Well, not _great_ considering the subject but you know what I mean," he said.

"Effective?"

"Exactly," he confirmed with a nod.

"Come on, Lily, we have to talk," H called for her.

Lily groaned. "Hunter, we had almost 4 hours to talk. I'm ready to talk to _my boyfriend_ now."

H grimaced. "Yeah, we talked about business, this is about work."

"Isn't work and business the same thing?" Lily raised a brow.

"Lily!" H hissed.

* * *

"Fine," Lily sighed, following him. She didn't even get a chance to ask Finn how things went with the guys. She'd been thinking a lot about what her father said about moving in too fast being the death of relationships and while that was still happening, she wanted to allow him space to miss her every now and then.

"I know you and Finn are together, Lily. So you don't have to ' _my boyfriend_ ' this and ' _my boyfriend'_ that all the time. It's starting to feel like you're trying to rub it in my face," Hunter held open the door to his office for her to enter.

"Excuse me? Despite what you may think the world doesn't revolve around you, Paul Levesque."

"You know, you've gotten very smug since Shawn decided to look the other way when it came to your relationship," he replied taking a seat.

"You would know considering your entire existence is smug."

"See, that's exactly what I mean. Why are we wasting money shooting an ad campaign that'll be shown in millions of homes across the country in an attempt to clean up your image when you're destined to be heel anyway!"

"I'm destined to be heel because I'm calling you out on your shit? If more people did that, there wouldn't be a face on Raw or Smackdown. NXT seems to be the only brand that's happy but maybe that's because you cater to the smarks down there. You and my dad made our lives hell after you found out so excuse me for enjoying my relationship now that I have permission to do so."

"No, you're destined to be heel because while you're over as a face and the crowd responds to you, what reason do they have to cheer you besides putting on good matches and being Shawn's daughter?"

"What reason do I have to be heel?"

"That's the good thing about being heel, you can do whatever the hell you want for whatever reason you want."

"I'm assuming you have my reason?"

"Natalya."

Lily squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Please don't tell me we're reviving the Bret vs Shawn angle again. I was lowkey happy that it was derailed. That's one thing I can thank Cathy for."

"The only resemblance it'll have is that you're a Michaels and she's a Hart. It'll be fresh and new and you can make it your own."

"What reason do I have to turn on Natty. She doesn't really have anything going on besides her dad recently…" Lily trailed off when he saw the look on his face. "No, no! Absolutely not. I can't. I won't."

"Why not?"

"Because I have a father..."

"Everyone has a father, Lily..."

"That's just mean and it'll be worse than Paige throwing Reid's death in Charlotte's face and didn't the Riott Squad already attack her over Jim's death a few weeks ago? It'll be redundant," she pointed out.

"It'll be from a daughter to daughter point of view," he replied. "And you have to really light into her. It can't be one of those cute, mean girl promo that Alexa does. There's no other way."

"Do I cost her a match or something?"

"No, she's tagging with Ronda against Sasha and Bayley but you'll have a backstage segment tonight and you can go from there. I'll talk to Nattie," he told her.

Lily watched the first segment in front of the monitors. Paul Heymen and Brock were out first and then Vince went on about David and Goliath. Braun walked out and then Finn. Lily didn't hear a word Finn said because she was too busy comparing his size to Brock's in horror.

"Hey, I heard we're supposed to be doing something tonight?" Nattie said from behind. "Are we going to be restarting our feud?"

"I'm not sure but I'm turning tonight and I want to apologize in advance for anything that I say…"

"What will you be saying?"

"I don't know yet," she, somewhat hesitantly, replied, "but it'll involve your dad and I know that's a touchy subject."

"Well, I allowed it to be used during the Riott Squad angle so I guess it'll be okay," Nattie shrugged.

"You do realize that it won't be nice, right?"

"What heel turn promo is nice?" Nattie snorted. "Do what you have to do."

"Okay then," Lily considered that her greenlight.

Later in the show, there was an Alexa segment featuring Rumble entrants and Lily's backstage segment was due afterwards.

The segment began with Lily walking backstage when Charly stopped her. Nattie and Ronda were seen in the background. "Lily, the Royal Rumble is 6 nights away and you haven't officially thrown your name into the hat. With Alexa Bliss and Lacey Evans announcing their entry a few minutes ago, there are now only 7 slots left."

"My father is a 2 time, back to back, year '95 and '96, Royal Rumble winner and I plan on following in his footsteps so yes, Charly, I'm entering. My dad's lucky numbers were 1 and 18 so hopefully… Wait, what are you staring at?" Lily followed Charly's gaze to Nattie who was watching them sadly.

Charly cleared her throat. "With the death of Natalya's father still fresh do you think speaking about your father so openly is a good idea?"

"Nattie never gave a damn about her father until the day he died so why should I?" Lily replied nonchalantly.

"Excuse me?" Nattie approached her.

"You heard me," Lily stepped in her face. "If you didn't repetitively say " _my uncle Bret_ " a million times over the course of your career we'd swear he was your father as evidenced by your theme, your ring attire, you using his finisher... _horribly_ and he's the one who has always made appearances in your corner. Now all of a sudden you care about Jim for the sake of sympathy cheers because you literally have nothing else going for yourself after over a decade here. At first I was upset that my big moment was derailed at Evolution but when I sat back and thought about it, it probably saved my career because you suck the life out of everything you're involved with and a boring, extended feud with you would've only dropped my value and unlike you I actually have a future here so go home to your cats and your equally irrelevant husband," Lily paused when she saw Nattie's eyes watering and heard the crowd booing. She knew it was time to wrap this up. She turned to look into the camera. "Dad, even if you were a jobber, I'd still stand here proud to be the daughter of Shawn Michaels. I'm glad I have the opportunity to acknowledge you before it's too late."

With that, Lily smirked, walking away leaving behind a stunned Nattie.

"And...cut," the cameraman said.

"Nattie, uhm," Lily began.

"Who wrote that for you?" Nattie questioned.

"It was m-"

"Me," Hunter said from behind. "We needed Lily to turn and the easiest way to get her cheap heel heat was like this."

"Oh, I see…" Nattie nodded.

"Are you going to be okay?" Lily asked. "I know you have a match."

"Yeah," Nattie replied, wiping her eyes.

"I really am sorry," Lily apologized.

"Oh, I'm not mad at you. I know you were only following the script," she replied.

"Well, the part where I addressed my dad directly was improvised," Lily admitted, wanting to take some of the blame.

"Oh, that part as well as the promo was hard for me to hear but it made good TV and did its job. I've learned over the years that you can't be sensitive in this line of work because you never know what's going to be brought up in a promo. Like I said, I'm not mad. For what it's worth, you did a good job writing it, Hunter and you did a great job delivering it, Lily," Nattie complimented them. "Well, I have a match so I'm going to go stretch and prepare myself."

"Okay," Lily waved behind her. "Why did you claim it, Hunter?"

"Because you obviously didn't want to. I technically directed you to do it so I'll own it. I'm just trying to keep the peace. While it was an outstanding heel promo, it could cause a rift in the locker room if they found out that pretty little Lily is capable of such unscripted viciousness."

Lily kept her head down on her way to the locker room.

"That was so mean, I loved it," Alexa was in her face as soon as she entered. "You wrote that yourself, huh?"

"I absolutely did not," Lily lied.

"Oh please, I know the difference between a generic WWE promo and something off script," Alexa sneered.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Only a few lines of that promo belonged to me and I've already spoken to Nattie about it."

"You're forgetting that we did shoot promos on each other. I know your style," Alexa shot back.

"I'm glad to hear that you've been cleared because your cheesy segments were getting stale," Lily snapped.

"And there we have it," Alexa clapped.

"You have nothing. I haven't seen the full list of entrants, the order that we're going in and I definitely don't know who's winning but I pray to God that it's me who gets to eliminate you," Lily gathered her bags. "Or maybe not because if you get another concussion hitting the floor I don't want your basement dwelling neckbeard fans coming after me."

"Pray to God...or Triple H?" Alexa smirked.

"With all the underserved opportunities you've been awarded since you hit the main roster, don't you dare play that card," Lily rolled her eyes.

" _Meow_! Put the claws away," Alexa scoffed. "And here I thought we were friends now."

"We are, can't tell?" Lily winked, throwing her duffel bag over her shoulder. "If we keep this up we'll be ready for a tag title run."

"I'll turn face just to avoid being stuck with you," Alexa gagged.

"I'd love to see you face since the excuse you used in interviews to excuse your lazy and limited moveset is being heel," Lily shot back. "Bring back your NXT stuff back when you were actually athletic."

"Your moveset looks like you put it together watching YouTube clips not to mention all the stuff you stole from your boyfriend and let's not forget your daddy's finisher. It's nothing to brag about," Alexa countered.

"At least it's entertaining and unpredictable like your matches," Lily replied. "I've wasted too much time already. I need to get back to the hotel."

"I guess you're in a hurry to have viagra sex with your 75 year old boyfriend," Alexa murmured.

"That too but unlike you I wrestled at all three houseshows this weekend so I need my rest for Sunday. Also, you're 10 years younger than him so I guess that makes you 65."

"I missed the days before you became a Michaels when you sat quietly in the corner and knew your place…"

"Ah, yes, the good ole days when you _accidentally_ almost broke my ankle. But of course, that was before we became friends," Lily rebutted. "See you at the Rumble."

* * *

Lily was on the hotel bed brushing her hair. She heard the shower turn off at the same time her phone vibrated by her thigh. "Hello _Father._ "

" _Daughter_ , the one Monday I decide to stay home, you decide to earn the name Michaels. You were ruthless. Even your mom said it was mean," Shawn gushed.

"Figures you'd like it," Lily snorted in reply.

"What was there not to like. You want to turn heel, you have to embrace it with no regrets."

"But I didn't want to. Hunter made me do it," Lily whined.

"I've already talked to Hunter and he didn't write a single word you said out there. Very heelish thoughts for someone who didn't want to…"

The bathroom door swung open and Finn stood shirtless with water glistening down his abs came into view.

"I have some something to take care of so I'll talk to you later," Lily whispered.

"Something to take care of at this time of the night? _Oh_ ," he grumbled before hanging up.

"I heard you on the phone so I hung around in there for a minute. While I was in there I did a little Twitter browsing and the general consensus is that it was harsh but overall it getting great reviews," he said. "I didn't think they'd have you take it that far but after they used Roman's cancer situation to further the Ambrose vs Rollins feud I'm not surprised at anything they'll cook up."

"I have a confession to make…." she looked at him with an expression of nervous guilt.

"Hmm?"

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"Who is he and how long have you been seeing him?" he joked.

"Fergal Devitt and for awhile now."

"What is it?"

"There was no _they_. Hunter asked me to turn heel on Nattie and suggested I do it by attacking Jim. The rest was me. If I randomly physically attacked her for no reason the crowd would've cheered because that's the way things are nowadays. I had to be efficient. I feel horrible especially when she cried. I spoke to her right before and she told me to do what I had to do and I did. It's like I started and couldn't stop," Lily blurted.

Finn's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, wow."

Lily covered her face. "I know."

"That was actually an impressed wow," he clarified.

"Why?"

"Because that was a great heel promo. The best promos have a touch of reality in them and some of what you said was indeed true about her being more associated with Bret than Jim. I must say it's promo of the year."

"It's only January," she blinked.

"Promo of the year...so far," he added.

"What about you. Seeing you standing in the ring with Brock had me shaking a little but you held your own in front of him as well as Vince and I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to see the outcome Sunday night," she smiled.

"Let's talk about Sunday at around noon. My parents are coming to Phoenix for the show and I was wondering if your parents could come too. Well, I know Shawn always comes but your mom as well so they can all meet at lunch," he requested.

"Oh, okay," Lily agreed but she was nervous. Shawn seemed okay now but she didn't know how he'd react to meeting Finn's family.

 **Lily: Emergency!**

 **Mom: What?**

 **Lily: Can you come to Phoenix Sunday?**

 **Mom: Sure. You must be winning?**

 **Lily: Based on early WM card speculation, nope. I think I'm a few years away from a Rumble win. Fergal's parents will be in town and he wants all of you to meet.**

 **Mom: …..**

 **Lily: Yeah, lol. I need you to get dad on board.**

 **Mom: Honey, I'm not a miracle worker but I'll try my best to get him there.**

* * *

Their mothers seemed to get along well but there was obvious tensions between the fathers. Lily was embarrassed from the moment Shawn walked in. Finn and Fintan were dressed in suits. Herself, her mom and Leonie were wearing dresses but Shawn looked like he was ready to go hunting wearing camouflage pants, a black T-shirt and a hat. It showed that he didn't take this seriously.

"Shawn, I'm just going to say it," Fintan laid his fork down. "My son has been wrestling since 2000 against opponents big and small and I've _never_ seen him as beat down as he was when he returned home after you put your hands on him. I don't appreciate the black eye and busted lip that you gave my son. My son looked up to you as a lad and this is what he got. I guess that's why they tell you to never meet your heroes."

"Your son met me years ago and things were fine but of course he hadn't violated my daughter in my own house yet! Your son should've been ashamed of himself but he couldn't have been walking around with that Cheshire Cat grin! Your son is lucky that a black eye and busted lip was all he got" Shawn hissed.

"Violated?" Fintan repeated. "Your daughter flew 13 hours to be with my son after the fact so he must've violated her pretty good."

Shawn sat up in his seat. "Who the hell does this overgrown leprechaun think he is?"

"Dad!" If Lily sank any lower in her chair she'd be on the floor.

"What Lily? I'm here. What more do you want?"

"For you to not embarrass me in front of my future in-laws," she scolded.

"Your _alleged_ future father in-law started it!"

"Maybe Mr. Devitt did _say_ something first but your body language from the moment you entered the room has been hostile! What was the point of approving of our relationship if you're still going to behave this way?"

"I just wanted you happy without having to choose between us. I still think you're too young right now and I still don't forgive him for what he did in San Antonio. It doesn't matter anymore because you're together now and I've come to terms with it but now I just think everything is moving too goddamn fast. You've been talking about shacking up and now we're on a parental meet and greet. At the rate you're going you two will probably elope the next time Raw goes to Vegas. That was a big lunch you ordered so you're probably eating for two," Shawn ranted.

"Shawn, like you said, none of it matters anymore because they're together now. As far as them moving too fast, only _they_ know what's right for their situation and the pace that it happens. The only thing that we as parents should be focused on is the fact that our children are happy together," Leonie spoke trying to defuse things.

That seemed to calm things down but now no one was speaking at all. The only thing she could hear was the harsh sound of silverware clattering against plates and it went on for 5 long and awkward minutes. She pushed her chair away from the table. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Lily was skeptical of this meeting from the start and this little confrontation proved that she was right. Maybe it would've been a good idea in about 6 months but now, the wounds were still fresh on the drama that transpired after they were found out. She didn't expect Finn's parents to just forget about their son returning in that condition so she understood the animosity from Fintan.

"Honey?" Her mom knocked on the bathroom door. "It's me and Fergal is here, too."

"This was a disaster! We finally get somewhat peace between Fergal and Dad and now Dad hates Fintan!"

"They don't hate each other. It's just a pissing contest," Finn replied.

"They should take their pissing contests to the bathroom where it belongs…" Lily muttered.

"Let's just give her some space, Fergal, come on."

"Yes ma'am," Finn agreed. "Cathy?!"

"Cathy?" Lily whispered aloud, leaning against the door to listen close.

"Are you going through some kind of crisis, Fergal?" Cathy's voice was heard on the other side of the door. "First you go for the barely legal teen and now you have a MILF hanging on your arm? Which porn genre is next?"

"I can tell you which porn genre he won't be experimenting with and that's Sex with Ex!" Lily heard her mom say.

"Wait, who are you?"

"Cathy, this is Lily's mom and Shawn's wife," Finn introduced.

"Oh," was all Cathy could muster.

"Yeah, oh! I've heard about the drama you've caused my daughter and if this were '98 you'd be on the floor right now but fortunately for you it's 2019 and I've decided not to embarrass my husband and daughter. Fergal, I'll be at the table."

"What are you doing here, Cathy?" Finn asked with a sigh.

"I'm not allowed to get hungry and eat?" Cathy questioned.

"All of the restaurants in Phoenix and you decide to eat here? Coincidentally after Lily puts the menu on Snapchat," he said. "Is your boyfriend with you?"

"Boyfriend?" Cathy sounded confused.

"You know, the _REAL_ man that you haven't had in _soooooo_ long," Finn interrogated.

"I knew she was spying on my conversation. I knew it! Jealous?"

"The situation that we're in at this moment, I don't think you can accuse anyone of spying. And no, I'm not jealous. I'd actually be ecstatic if you found someone new so you'd leave Lily and me alone!"

"When I walked in I thought I saw Fintan and Leonie. The parents are meeting, how cute. Shawn looked super thrilled. I think I'm going to go have a chat with Leonie," Lily heard the sound of heels clicking away.

"Cathy!" Finn shouted but his footsteps didn't retreat after her.

Lily opened the door. "I knew she was crazy but now she's added stalker. And because she presents to be perfect to Hunter and higher management, I don't know what can be done to get her fired so we can be free from her once and for all. And what the hell does she have to talk to your mom about?"

"I have no idea. Cathy thinks my mum likes her but my mum is a good actress," Finn revealed.

Lily stopped in her tracks. "I think your mom likes me, too?! What is the truth?"

"Oh, no, she legitimately likes you. If she didn't she would've expressed that when we broke up that time but all she was concerned with was us reconciling."

As Lily weaved through the tables, she noticed that Cathy had Leonie pulled to the side by the bar. She appeared to be explaining something and it worried Lily because Leonie was nodding with understanding.

"She tried to get me over there too but I wasn't going to participate in that fakery," Fintan said when Lily and Finn sat down.

The conversation ended and while Cathy walked off with her head held high, Lily could tell that things didn't go as planned.

"What happened, Mum?"

"A sob story about how she and Fergal's relationship didn't end well and how he didn't give them a fair chance to fix things," Leonie replied.

"And what did you say?" Finn questioned.

"That it was time for her to move on because you clearly have, with Lily."

"Pathetic," Lily's mom shook her head.

Lily looked down at the table and the plates were gone. Apparently, they'd called for the check while she was still in the bathroom. Fintan confirmed this when he went in his wallet and left a tip on the table and then Shawn _reconfirmed_ it by going into his wallet and leaving a bigger tip. Lily motioned between Shawn and Fintan. "So before we leave are we good here?"

"I'm fine, Lily, I just had to get that off of my chest and I did," Fintan said.

"Dad?" Lily prompted.

"I'm fine as well. While I thought this meeting was a little premature, I wouldn't mind trying this again at a later date," Shawn replied.

* * *

"Did you hear my dad's eating for two comment? Why does everyone keep throwing pregnancy at me? First the girls in the locker room did a betting pool where they speculated that I was out having an abortion, then Alexa in her promo, then you at the hospital and now him," Lily yelled through the closed bathroom door of her hotel room. "Would you happen to have a pair of scissors?"

"Yeah, look in my bag by the tub," Finn yelled back. "There were a few awkward moments but overall I think it went well."

"Just a few?" Lily asked. She took one last selfie to remember herself by. "I'm not going to lie that 'violated her pretty good' comment from Fintan caught me off guard. I wanted to laugh but it wouldn't have been appropriate."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed.

She took the scissors and began cutting her hair carelessly. She could feel long strands sliding down her arms and chest and into the sink. "I told my dad to mention the Cathy incident to Hunter. Obviously it's not enough to get her future endeavored but it's enough to paint her in a negative light."

"And if she keeps it up we can continue building a case against her," he agreed. "What did she think? Even if things went in her favor, did she think my mum would force us back together?"

"My thoughts exactly," Lily took a step back and turned her head from left to right. Her hands came up and touched the short hair, which barely came to the tips of her ear lobes on the sides but it was an inch or so longer at the front. You could tell that it was an unprofessional cut. Her face looked the same but different. She saw bone structure that she hadn't noticed, her neck seemed longer and her lips looked fuller. "Fergal, I'm about to come out of the bathroom."

"O...kay? I don't recall you ever announcing it before," he sounded cautious.

"Close your eyes," she ordered him.

"Lilith, as much as it pains me to say this, if this is some kind of sex thing we really don't have time for it. You've never been in the Rumble before so you don't know this but you have to be there super early so you can find out your number, who you'll be eliminating and who will be eliminating you not to mention practice whatever big spots you'll have," he said.

"I know, I know but it's not a sex thing. Just close your eyes."

"They're closed," he complied.

She cracked the door open to see that his eyes were indeed close. She stood a few steps away from him and took a deep breath. "Okay!"

His eyes slowly parted and his mouth fell open in shock. He stood and circled her like a shark. "Having a beautiful face saved you because you butchered whatever style you were going for. It's like you saw 3 different haircuts and couldn't settle on one so you decided to take the front of one, the sides of the other and the back of another."

"It's my heel look. Who was going to take me seriously as a threat looking like a living breathing hybrid of Barbie and my dad back when he was pretty? Plus it's unique. The last woman with short hair in WWE was Molly Holly and that was back in like '05. I guess Ruby counts but she has the alternative, gothic thing going on so it's expected of her. As for everyone else, heel or face, no one ever modifies their look. They'll turn heel and show up at the next show scowling and walking slower. At most they'll change their gear from colorful to dark," she explained her actions.

"Well, if that's the case it works and I admire you for wanting to try something different. I never would've guessed that you'd spontaneously chop your hair off," his expression was blank like as if he was trying to come to a verdict.

"Actually, it wasn't spontaneous. I've been thinking about it all week and with the show starting in a few hours it was now or never. If you don't like it, don't worry because my hair grows fast so it'll be shoulder length by Mania."

Finn didn't reply as he walked into the bathroom and came back out with the scissors. He stood behind her and began shaping it up. When he finished it was a pixie cut. " _Now_ , I like it."

"Yeah, it looks so much better. I was going to ask how you knew how to cut but I forgot you've been a man with short hair for 37 years," Lily walked over to her bag and pulled out a long, blonde wig. She fixed it on her head before placing a baseball cap on top. "Let's go!"

"I don't get it. What was the point of cutting your hair just to wear a wig?"

"A decoy. It's no fun if I walk in with it. It's all about the reveal, babe…"

* * *

As of right now, this would be the biggest venue Lily performed in seeing as the event was taking place in a baseball stadium tonight.

Everything Finn told her about the Rumble process was correct. She now knew her entry number, she was going to spend a good amount of time in the match, she was going to eliminate multiple opponents and she was overly satisfied with the person who would eliminate her. Overall it looked like a great showing for her.

"And please be mindful of the way you're tossed," Shawn coached her after she exited the locker room.

"I'm not worried about my landing, Dad," Lily replied.

"You should be. The last thing you need is your shoulder dislocated or broken."

"Dad, trust me. When my feet touched the floor I'm going to be in control of it."

"I see you changed your gear."

' _That's not the only thing I changed_ ,' she thought to herself wearing a white bralette top with red trimming, white biker shorts with an upside down heartbreak (her new logo) on the butt, kneepads and white and red wrestling boots. "I'm sure you do now that my butt isn't hanging out anymore."

"Yeah, that's definitely a plus," he mumbled. "Now go on. I see all of the girls heading in one direction so I assume you need to join them."

"Yeah, a group picture of all 30 entrants like last year," she replied.

"Lily, that blue hat matches nothing," the always color coordinated Charlotte commented as they lined up.

"Oh, I forgot that it was still on" Lily replied, removing it.

"Did you add extensions because I don't recall your hair being this long on Monday?" Liv asked, running her fingers through it from behind.

"It's a wig actually and you're right, my real hair is _much_ shorter than this," Lily answered casually.

"I hope that wig is secured tight because if it falls off during the action you'll become a viral meme before the show is over," Alicia added.

"Alright, Lily, you're entering at number 8 and your countdown clock starts...now," Hunter notified and the 10 second clock began. Feelings of anxiety started to build in the pit of her stomach as the clock ticked down to 3 seconds. The loud buzzer sounded and her theme hit. "Go!"

"Remember, be mindful of your fall!" Shawn yelled as she moved toward the dugout where they'd enter.

Boos rained down on her as she walked out but she heard a substantial amount of cheers as well. The women in the ring already seemed to clear a path leaving Nattie in the middle in fighting position. Lily did the 'John Cena run' down the ramp. Neither wasted time with pleasantries, going straight to it with stiff, strike exchanges that the crowd seemed to love.

The rest of the women went back to business with each other around them. Lily delivered a roundhouse kick to Nattie's head which dropped her to the canvas. Now her focus was getting Nattie out of there. She tried to drag her but Nattie's body was dead weight. Finally, Nattie moved with her to get a few inches closer to the ropes. That's when Lily felt her wig being snatched off from behind just the way they'd discussed prior to the match.

She heard gasps from the audience but the loudest came from her mom sitting front row. When Lily turned around, Naomi was standing there dangling the blonde locks in a taunting manner but Lily didn't look embarrassed as she confidently ran a hand through her short hair.

They faced off for a short period of time and Naomi got in a hurricanrana and her high kicks or whatever she called them. She bounced off the ropes of the Rear View but Lily superkicked her in the ass. She was going to attempt to eliminate her but the countdown began again, distracting her. Peyton Royce.

Lily made it her point to go around the ring attacking everyone she saw. The place was getting cluttered so it was time to start tossing. She eliminated Mickie James.

Ember attempted to eliminate Naomi who tried to survive until the already eliminated Mandy broke things up and eliminated Naomi. It wasn't planned but Lily thinking fast picked up her discarded wig and threw it at her on the floor. "And take this with you because it'll be the only prize you'll be getting tonight!"

The next time the buzzer sounded, it was the one person she'd been waiting on, Alexa. Once Alexa made it inside the ring, she reached up to touch Lily's hair but Lily grabbed her forearm and twisted it behind her back turning Alexa with her arm still in the hold. She walked Alexa to the rope from behind like a cop walks a handcuffed criminal to the car. But that would've been too easy. Alexa kicked backwards, creating space between them and punched Lily before pushing her into a crowd of already brawling women in order to escape.

Lily eliminated both Iconiics. The bodies were getting scarce and everyone seemed to be laid out on the canvas except for her and Charlotte on the other side of the ring. The crowd seemed excited for this Flair/Michaels standoff and she hoped Hunter took note so they could explore a feud in the future.

Charlotte stood over Lily and "Woo'd" and the crowd answered with their own woos. Because Charlotte was so much taller, Lily decided to lower her by kicking her in the thigh. When Charlotte bent in pain, Lily began beating her in the back. Charlotte fought out and began attacking Lily with chops and took a couple steps back to deliver a big boot that knocked Lily over the top rope. Charlotte turned around without making sure Lily hit the ground. Just like Shawn did when he won his rumble, Lily dangled her feet, flipping back over the top rope which the crowd popped for.

The last two entrants Becky and Carmella were now in the ring. It was now down to the final 7: herself, Nia, Alexa, Carmella, Nattie, Charlotte, Becky.

Nattie was in front of the ropes battling Nia. It was time. She snuck out of Nattie's line of vision and delivered Sweet Chin Music with force that knocked Nattie over the top rope. That lead to some boos especially when Lily celebrated it. Carmella had Alexa on the verge of elimination so Lily went over to help seal the deal to rid the match of Little Miss Bliss.

Now that that was over, she climbed over the top rope herself and walked out. The crowd seemed confused at first but when they realized that she just eliminated herself on purpose they were pissed. She talked into the camera as she walked away. "I've lasted over 50 minutes and I've eliminated 5 women with Nattie being the cherry on top so my job here is done. I've put my hands on all 29 competitors and the best thing about that is _none_ of them got to return the favor by eliminating me. Oh and spoiler alert, it's between Flair and Lynch."

"Lily, you were amazing out there. I'm so proud of you," Shawn whispered into Lily's hair as he hugged her.

"You definitely had quite a few memorable moments out there," Hunter nodded in agreement. "The Nattie confrontation, the Flair vs Michaels standoff and not to mention the wig thing. Naomi has been using the 'snatch you bald' thing for almost a year now and I think this is the first time she's literally done it."

"What the hell have you done to your hair anyway?" Shawn asked. "Unlike the other stuff you've pulled in the last few months, I can't even shift the blame to Balor because I'm sure he didn't talk you into getting a lesbian haircut. Your mother is going to kill you."

"I'm sure. I'd glance over at her occasionally while I was in the ring and her expression was still frozen in shock long after the wig was removed," Lily laughed.

She knew it was time to locate Finn. He wasn't that far away from gorilla. "Aww, no paint tonight?"

"Unfortunately no," he shook his head. "You kicked ass out there tonight. I was watching but when you eliminated yourself I was done. No disrespect to the other ladies but you're my highlight."

"Aww, thanks," Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brock walking by. She turned her head to get the full scope and shirtless he earned his nickname, Beast. "Please be safe."

"Calm down, Lilith, I'm not going to die out there. The worse case scenario is getting my forehead busted open or landing wrong during a suplex."

"Landing wrong on your neck and breaking it or worse, paralyzing yourself!" she pouted. "You know what, I'm going to catering. I can't watch."

"Baby, I'll be fine," he assured her. "Walk me to gorilla?"

The match began and Lily watched intently, cringing every time Brock was on offense but Finn held his own. In fact this was the most she'd ever seen Lesnar sell. Finn came across very dominant and aggressive and for a minute she thought he'd actually win but when Brock got him in the Kimora Lock she knew it was over and began walking to gorilla to meet him when he returned. She wasn't really surprised by the outcome. No one would be taking the title off of Brock at this point simply because they were now on the road to Wrestlemania and Brock was going to carry it at least until then.

"...the winner and _still_ Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar."

Lily was disappointed with the outcome but she wasn't surprised. No one was going to take the title off of Brock at this point simply because they were on the road to Wrestlemania and he was walking in as champ. She didn't understand why the company seemed insistent on keeping the title on Brock despite him not touring the world with the title, not promoting it, not a Top 10 merch seller and not really moving ratings. Finn deserved better but that was just her opinion because she never heard him complain about his status with the company.

She waited for him to enter gorilla until approaching. She gave him a hug and he squeezed her. "You did so good out there. Despite not winning, you were booked to look strong and showed the world that you belong in the main event scene. Maybe when he finally gets the hell out of here you'll have a run with the title."

"Thanks, Lilith. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Finn, we need to film your post-match comments for the website," Hunter requested.

"Let me get out of the way," Lily took a step back.

"No, stay," Finn replied, pulling her back to his side. "I want you to be apart of this moment."

"Cathy!" Hunter yelled.

"Oh no," Lily grumbled.

"Yes?" Cathy asked when she rounded the corner.

"I need you to interview Balor," Hunter told her and Lily assumed this was her punishment for her interference earlier.

"What? But Hunter, I'm not prepared for this?" Cathy tried in an attempt to talk her way out of it.

Hunter didn't want to hear it. "Cathy, what's there to prepare? All you're doing is pointing a mic to ask basic questions and nod like you're listening intently."

Cathy composed herself before the camera started rolling. "I'm here with Finn Balor after his loss to Brock Lesnar. Finn, can I have your comments?"

Finn spoke about his loss while Lily paid attention to him, rubbing his arm comfortingly. He finished his comments with, "thanks Cathy."

"I didn't even look at her," Lily said.

"I noticed," he replied.

"If I've learned nothing more from Hunter it's that PR matters. She's already going to have sympathy because she had to be professional enough to interview her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. That alone is enough to get the 'poor Cathy' narrative started. The public doesn't know about all the stuff she's done behind closed doors so if I said or did anything shady I'd look like I'm threatened by the ex when it's the other way around. I don't know, I would've looked like the bad guy."

"Well, you _are_ a heel now," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Lily remembered. She rubbed his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little sore but that's about it, I think."

"I know your brother is here too so you'll probably go out for drinks with him after the show is over but when you make it to the hotel I'll run you a hot bath to soak that soreness away and then we can have loser sex since I didn't win either."

A throat cleared behind them and they turned to find Shawn. "I came here to congratulate Finn on a great match but I changed my mind."

Lily laughed. "Dad, earlier you accused me of being pregnant so you obviously know that we're an _active_ couple."

"Yeah but I don't need to hear about it," he grumbled.


	13. Ellen?

"What are you doing?" Lily asked watching Finn stare down into his packed suitcase early Friday morning.

"I know I packed everything but for some reason it feels like something is missing," Finn answered.

"Gear for four days?"

"Yep."

"Clean underwear?"

"Yep."

"Wallet, phone and charger?"

"Yep."

"Well if you have all of those items, that's all you really need," she replied, grabbing her phone. "So this person on Instagram has been spamming the comments of every picture that I've ever posted of us together with Cathy related crap."

"Just block it," Finn suggested.

"I have...4 times already. They just make new pages," Lily huffed in frustration.

"The way things have been going lately it's probably Cathy herself…"

"She would've been my first suspect but the page that began the harassment was created years ago and has over 1000 posts. The fake profiles have username variations of the original page. It's not Cathy _this_ time," Lily said. "Ever since that backstage interview with the 3 of us, 'the Finthy' 'CatFinn' fans have been enraged."

"If blocking doesn't work, just ignore it. Your 'Fertilizers' or whatever your fanbase calls themselves will handle it," he replied.

"I would've preferred 'Flowers' if they wanted to based themselves off of Lily. When I hear fertilize I think of eggs and sperm instead of plant food but get the sentiment," Lily laughed. "This is not a drill. The page has slid into my DMs."

"What does it say?"

" _Now that you look like a blonde rooster by the head, it's only a matter of time before he runs back to Cathy. She's been glowing since the breakup meanwhile he's slumming it with you_ ," Lily read aloud.

"Never thought I'd actively want to slum," he snorted in reply.

"She just sent another. Listen at this: _you'll never be enough for him. He likes intelligent women like Cathy. She's a member of Mensa International. You're just a dumb little girl."_

Finn rolled his eyes. "Babe, do not engage."

"Too late…"

 **Lily: A dumb little girl who graduated 1st in the most academically competitive high school in Texas and had multiple full ride scholarship offers to the best universities in America.**

 **Troll: We adore Cathy, a WOMAN and Finn did too until you stole him.**

 **Lily: FYI, I'm blocking...again. If you want to send any further DMs to vent that's fine but I won't accept them.**

"Lily don't tell me you're going back and forth with that troll are you?" Finn questioned.

"No, I just blocked her."

"Good, you should've said nothing in the first place. When you give trolls a reaction they win. You weren't engaging with her when she was commenting which is why she kept creating pages after being blocked. That DM was bait."

"And I took it," she shook her head.

"Are you ready to head to the airport?"

"Yeah, I need to walk down the hall to my place to get my bags and we can go," Lily replied. Finn's apartment was still pretty empty besides the boxes that he shipped from Brooklyn.

* * *

Lily stepped off of her flight and finally checked her phone when they made it to the hotel. "Oh shit!"

"What?"

"So apparently that fan decided to post screenshots of our conversation but not before photoshopping it with fake responses from me and now it's trending and wrestling Twitter is on fire," Lily announced.

"What do the messages say?"

"I don't even want to repeat most of it but one says, ' _He'll never want Cathy again because she is old and ugly.'_ Really? Cathy is a lot of things but ugly is not a word I'd used to describe her. Old either considering you're older. Here's another: ' _Cathy is disposable but I'll have a job for life thanks to my dad, Shawn Michaels. All of you fans might as well get over it because Finn Balor and I are going to be together forever.'_ Like, why would I be dropping the full name of my father like everyone doesn't know who I am and why would I need to use my own boyfriend's character name? This is crazy and some people are actually believing it. My mentions are in shambles right now."

"I'll take care of it," he said pulling out his phone.

 **FinnBalor: Can the harassment of LilyMichaelsWWE over photoshopped images stop? I've never lied to you guys before so believe me when I say that Lily didn't and wouldn't send out any msgs like those.**

"Thank you! You were so right about her baiting me and I should've continued to ignore and block her," Lily admitted.

"Exactly, what's the point of having an older, wiser and handsome boyfriend if you don't take his advice?"

Lily saw herself come into focus on Alexa's phone as she took a selfie. "Is this an invitation to join or what? And if so, I find it funny that you didn't want to take one before I chopped my hair off."

"No, I never wanted to take a selfie with you because you were a face and I was heel. Kayfabe dear," Alexa replied.

"Yeah, sure. Kayfabe died with social media. Some of you literally are photed together during feuds," Lily rolled her eyes before smiling for the picture.

It felt weird being on the heel side in a 3 on 3 with her, Alexa and Alicia Fox vs Sasha, Bayley and Natalya. She spent most of the match avoiding Nattie. It was eventually Alicia who took the pin giving the win to the face team.

* * *

"Are those screenshots floating around on Twitter real or photoshopped?" Hunter asked Monday afternoon in his office.

Lily stared at him incredulously. "Hunter, I know I can get a bit testy when it comes to Cathy but I've never gone on deranged rants such as those. This is your fault actually for making her interview him. You couldn't come up with a punishment better than that? I knew she had a pretty decent sized following but who new they were _that_ invested in keeping her and Fergal together."

"Finn and Cathy were together for years and now they aren't. Some fans don't like change," Hunter reasoned. "In fact, 20 years from now if you two are still together you may still face it because I still get Chyna comments."

"Of course you do, look what you did to her," Lily mumbled under her breath. "Anyway, what am I doing tonight?"

"You will have two segments," Hunter said sliding an outline of tonight's show across the table to her.

Lily was filmed walking backstage until she was stopped by Nattie.

"Me and you, in the ring, tonight," Nattie said.

"No!" Lily replied. "It's like I told you, I'm not going to let you drag me down with a long, boring feud."

"I don't want a feud. I want a match to run your bratty ass back to your daddy, you know, since Shawn is still alive as you so eloquently pointed out," Nattie yelled.

Lily raked a hand through her short hair. "Well Nattie, as it turns out my self-elimination was very frown upon so I now have 29 women gunning for me. I took Bayley down the night after the Rumble so that leaves 28. I put them in order of relevance and you're dead last even behind the NXT and NXT UK women who I won't be running into again anytime soon so Nattie vs Lily is going to have to wait."

Several Superstars interrupted Alexa's Moment of Bliss segment and Lily was next. She cleared her throat on the mic to make her presence known as she walked out.

"Seriously?" Alexa blinked.

"Alexa, this will only take a minute. Nia, it's great that you're showing the world that women can hang with the big boys in the ring but on the other hand you brag about what you've done to men but your record against your fellow woman is questionable to say the least. It wasn't that long ago that Alexa, all 5 feet, 102 pounds of her had you crying last year?"

"Let's not live in the past…" Alexa replied.

"Anyway, Nia, you entered 2 royal rumbles and lost both while I could've won the women's if I hadn't walked out on my own terms," Lily boasted.

"I know this is a talk show _Ellen DeGeneres_ but you should've stayed in the back," Nia said.

Lily fake laughed. "You're so funny. Can you at least give me an original hair insult instead of one that trended on Twitter after the wig came off?"

Nia took a few intimidating steps toward Lily. "I'll give you something alright."

"Neither of you are dressed for a fight," Alexa pointed out. "Where is a McMahon when you actually need them?"

"We don't need a GM," Nia shook her head. "Next week I'm going to give you a taste of what my opponents in the elimination chamber are going to get."

"Fine but there's something I have to do first," Lily replied, pulling her phone out of her back pocket, scrolling through her contacts and placing the phone to her ear. "Hey Dad? Is my health insurance active? Why you ask? Because I'm going to be stepping in the ring with Nia Jax next week and she has clumsily injured every other opponent that she faces and I don't want to take any chances. I know right? Are you guys watching? Hi mom!" Lily said, waving into the camera. "Alright, love you guys."

"Health insurance?" Nia questioned. "You should've been asking daddy about life insurance."


	14. Too Hearts, Too Sweet

"I dare anyone to say we aren't a wrestling power couple!" Lily exclaimed with glee as she struggled to wiggle into her jeans Friday evening. "I'm never working out with you again. My thigh muscles are bulking out of control. Back on topic, both of us are on our way to sold out Axxess meet and greets. I know people are going to say ' _oh, the only reason Lily sold out is because of her dad'_ but the truth is it was already 60% sold out on the first day before they decided to turn it into a father-daughter session. People actually paid to see me. I still can't believe it."

"Believe it, babe. I am so proud of you. You've come so far," he smiled. "I was going to wait until tomorrow night but now is the perfect moment."

"What?" she asked curiously and he pulled a little black box from behind his back. Her eyes widened in shock because she was not expecting this, at least not now. A chill of fear ran down her spine because her dad was going to kill him. "Fergal, what? I-I-I-"

"Oh, it's just a promise ring. I'm not even down on one knee," he laughed which relaxed her a little. He opened the box. Taking it out, he tilted it up so she could see the engravement inside: _Two Hearts, Too Sweet_. Then he slid it on her finger. "I'd give a speech but I think the ring says it all."

Lily felt stinging in the corners of her eyes but she blinked them away because her mascara wasn't waterproof. She raised her hand to look at her ring. It was a gold band with two interlocking hearts lined with diamonds. She hugged him. "It's beautiful and I love it...and you. I'd thank you for it but I'm already running behind."

"We have all night for that," he winked.

She thought Summerslam Axxess was a big deal but Wrestlemania Axxess was on a different level. Fans were everywhere and they needed a security escort just to get from one place to another.

Lily looked around. "Hey there's my dad and Hunter. Let's go."

Shawn's eyes went straight to her hand. He picked it up to examine it. He looked from her to Finn. "What the hell is this? Did you give this to her?"

"I would hope so," Finn replied sarcastically.

"Who do you think you are?!" he hissed. "I don't know how they do things over in Ireland but here in America any decent man asks the father for the daughter's hand in marriage and my answer is no!

Hunter looked over her shoulder. "And on top of that it's a small, bullshit ring! You have a million dollar salary plus a percentage of your merch sales and _this_ is what you get her? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"I was too distracted by the very idea of it to even notice the ring!" Shawn added. "Lily, I am insulted that you said yes to that popcorn machine ring. Have some respect for yourself."

Lily rolled her eyes. "It's a promise ring, guys."

"Oh…" Shawn blinked. "Well, I guess that's alright."

"And I'll have you two know that that _small, bullshit, popcorn machine ring_ probably cost more than all the Hall of Fame rings WWE will be giving out tomorrow put together," Finn sounded slightly offended. "Lilith, my meet and greet doesn't start until another hour but I'm going to walk around for a bit and catch up with you later."

Lily's hand cramped after a long evening of signing autographs. Her and Shawn were down to their last two fans.

The first was a teen girl wearing Lily's upside down heartbreak shirt. "You deserve to be on that card Sunday and I'm not talking about the battle royal."

"I agree," Shawn said, signing his name before sliding it over to Lily.

Lily signed before giving it back to the fan. "All good things come to those who wait. Thanks for your support."

"I know that this is an autograph only session but can I please take a selfie with you?" she pulled out her phone.

There was a security guard standing behind them earlier that turned down selfies for them. Not only because it was an autograph signing but because if one fan got a selfie they all would want one. He left when the line winded down to the last 10. Lily stood. "Sure."

A guy who appeared to be in his 30s wearing a DX shirt approached. "Shawn Michaels, it's going to be so awesome to see you guys finally going in tomorrow night. I only wish it happened a few years earlier so Chyna could've been there."

"Thank you. I wish the same," Shawn had his head down signing. Lily was wearing a low cut shirt and the guy was practically drooling over her.

"Oh and Shawn, Lily needs a real man instead of Finn Balor. He's a loser indie darling who looks like he belongs on 205 Live," he said and Shawn laughed, sliding the picture over to Lily.

"The only loser here is you," Lily handed the picture to the guy without signing. "Have a nice day."

"That was rude," Shawn replied when the guy left.

"No, rude was you laughing instead of defending him especially when you were smaller framed back in an era where Vince preferred his top guys to be at least 6 feet tall and roided up," she pointed out.

"Me defending him?" he snorted. "I don't think so."

"After all this time if you still don't like him that's fine but at least fake it to outsiders. That guy is going to run straight to Reddit and post that you don't like your own son-in-law and that I'm a bitch because I refused to sign!"

"Son-in-law," Shawn scoffed. "He may have put a childish ring on your finger but until he walks you down the aisle he's no son-in-law of mine."

"Can you stop flip flopping please? One day you're okay with him, the next day you're angry again. Pick an emotion already and stick with t!"

"I was okay because when I looked at the other men backstage I acknowledged that you could've done worse but that was just the main roster. I've been making some rounds since I got here Thursday and have met some nice _young_ gentlemen with bright futures ahead of them from the NXT and NXT UK rosters."

"God, are you serious right now?" Lily's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Yes! That promise ring is an ominous symbol of what's to come. Why settle for the first guy you meet when you can have your pick? There are so many more compatible options out there," Shawn argued.

"Hmm, I wonder what you called "Divas" back in your day who explored _options_? Slut, whore, live-in ring rat or all of the above?"

"Slut?" Shawn's brow knitted in confusion. "Who said anything about sleeping around? I'm just saying you shouldn't put your all into a relationship with a 37 year old man. You walk around in a bubble where only he exists. What's going to happen if he gets hurt? At his age it's only going to get harder and harder to bounce back. If it's a career ending injury do you think he's going to want you on the road without him around a roster full of men? What's going to happen if he decides to go join his buddies over at AEW? Do you really want to sleep with the enemy? What's going to happen if he decides to quit because he's ready to settle down and start a family. Your career is just beginning so you definitely can't afford to pop out baby-leprechauns."

"The snide comments about his culture are getting old because I'm sure he can find a couple negative things to say about Americans," she rolled her eyes. "Tuesday when you get back to San Antonio I'm going to tell mom to take you to the doctor because you're clearly going senile and we need to combat it in the early stages. You are the _worst_ father ever!"

"Lily!" he grabbed her arm but she snatched away.

Charlotte appeared to have just finished an interview when Lily stormed by. "Wait, where's the fire so I can know which area to avoid?"

"Can we switch dad's? Mine sucks," Lily blurted.

"Do you think growing up with my dad was easy?" Charlotte scoffed. "I know you weren't raised in the business like I was but to be honest that was probably a good thing. At least your dad knew where Shawn Michaels ended and Michael Hickenbottom began. I don't even know who Richard Fliehr is. I was stuck with _the_ Ric Flair all day, every day. Let's not even get into the scandals, the drinking, the arrests and the many, many divorces. Please, you'd be begging to have Shawn back in a week."

"That may be true but you've been with Andrade for like what? Three months? Already he's been to North Carolina around Ric and the rest of your family. I've been with Fergal since last year and besides Christmas there has never been any peace between them. Just neutral feelings and indifference from my dad. Why can't he just leave us alone and let me live my life!"

"I'm not making excuses for him but I'm 33 and I've been married twice. At this point my dad doesn't care who I date as long as I'm happy. You're only 18 and I'm assuming this is your first real relationship. Naturally Shawn is going to be concerned."

"There's concern and then there's control and he's crossed that line," her jaw tensed thinking about what the argument was about.

Charlotte must have read her expression. "Okay, let me be quiet because I'm obviously speaking about a situation that I don't have all the details on."

"No, a lot of what you said makes sense but yeah, there's a lot more to this story than just an overbearing father," she sighed. "Anyway, congrats on making history. I'm going to walk around and see if I can find Ferg."

"Thanks and I think I saw him over there," Charlotte pointed.

Because his meet and greet started an hour after hers, his line was still incredibly long. She noticed a few fans from her line in his as well. Finn was in the middle of a Finn freeze when the crowd finally noticed her standing there and reacted.

"One second, guys," Finn waved her over and pulled them away from any listening ears. "What's wrong?"

"My dad…" was all she needed to say for him to understand. She decided not to mention the 'options' thing because it would only ruin him for the rest of his session.

"Don't worry. After this I'll take you out to dinner and we'll talk about it," he replied.

"That's the thing though, I don't want to talk about it because I'm done with him," she firmly stated, trying to look and sound calm. A few fans had their phones out and without context it would probably look like they were having an argument if she frowned or raised her voice.

"Don't say that because you know you don't mean it. I thought we moved pass the feuding father and daughter phase," he chuckled.

"Whatever I'm going back to the room…"

"No, you don't need to be alone right now," he said.

"My mom is probably swiping dad's credit card in Bloomingdale's shopping right now so maybe I'll go catch up with her," Lily shrugged.

Finn turned to his crowd. "Do you guys mind if she hangs around?"

"No," the crowd yelled back at him.

"Thanks for the invitation but I decline," Lily shook her head and was booed. She didn't want to do the creepy Kim Orton thing invading his signings and forcing herself on his fans. "Okay, okay! I'm going to stand over here off to the side and if we have a mutual fan I'll step back in."

Besides a few girls and kids who wanted solo pictures with Finn, they either had a lot of mutual fans or just people who wanted to take a picture with 2 Superstars for the price of 1.

* * *

Lily just wasn't in the mood as she watched the muscles in Finn's abs tightened. She remained silent as her hand slid up and down, waiting for it to be over. Finn's breathing was very fast and his head pressed back hard against his pillow. He made fists with his hands and clenched his teeth. His chest and stomach glistened with sweat. Suddenly, his hips began to buck. And then it happened… His body jerked with each subsequent sperm burst, as his breathing slowed.

"It's been a while since I got a good old fashion handjob," he sighed.

"I'm still pissed with my dad to do anything but that doesn't mean you have to lay there sexually frustrated."

"You still haven't told me what it was about yet."

"Read for yourself," she passed him her phone. "Just like I told him it would end up on Reddit."

"' _Awkward encounter with Shawn and Lily Michaels today at Axxess signing. So after waiting last in line for almost 3 hours today I finally arrived to the front. I made a harmless joke_ _about Finn belonging on 205 Live which Shawn found funny but she flew off the rails and threw my picture in my face without signing. I paid 150 to see them and this is how I was treated?"_ Finn finished reading. "That's all?"

"Yes, plus he lied. He said I needed a real man and called you an indie darling loser who belonged on 205 Live. I did not fly off the rails or throw anything in his face. I politely handed him back his picture and told him to have a nice day. I find it laughable that he thinks 150 is enough money to disrespect my boyfriend to my face and expect me to take it. No amount of money is," she asserted. "I'd hope you'd do the same for me."

"I would. It hasn't happened to my face yet though and hopefully it never will. Some fans are just entitled assholes. It's nothing new," he shrugged. "I'm trying to figure out why you're mad at Shawn though. Sure he laughed but at this point I don't expect anything less from him. That's not enough for you to be 'done' with him like you told me earlier. Did anything else happen between you two?"

She contemplated telling him the truth but nixed the idea. There was no point now. "No, I'm just annoyed in general but the fact that he did it in front of a fan is what really got to me. This only gave them a show and something to talk about. Keep the animosity behind closed doors."

"Ok, _that_ I understand. Now that I think about it, I am annoyed that he'd laugh. One of the reasons why I looked up to Shawn the way I did was because he was a smaller wrestler prospering and I knew that if he could do it, I could do it," he replied.

"My thoughts exactly!" she agreed.

"Are you sure that's it?" he asked. "I feel like there is something else that you're holding back."

"Yes," she yawned, turning her back to him on the pillow. "I'm tired. Goodnight."

* * *

"The longer my hair gets, the less villainous I look," her blonde locks had grown out long enough to tuck behind her ear. She turned her head from side to side in the bathroom mirror in the hotel.

"It's the hall of fame, you don't need to look villainous," Finn yelled from inside the room.

Naked, she sprayed herself with a body shimmer that made her skin look golden. Now she had to wait for it to dry before dressing.

"Need some help? You missed a spot on your back," he positioned himself on the bed to watch her from where he sat.

"Stop being a perv!" she laughed, grabbing the doorknob.

"If you close that door you'll be finding yourself another date for tonight!" he replied.

"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem," she countered, wiggling her naked ass at him. When she was dry, she stepped into her light pink one shoulder gown. It was fitted and had a leg split. "Come zip me."

He stepped behind her in the mirror and did the deed. "There you go."

She looked at their image together. He was wearing a black suit with a light pink tie and handkerchief in the breast pocket to match. "We look like we're going to the prom. I'm waiting for you to pull out a corsage or something."

"We have to do that classic prom pose in front of the cameras tonight at least once," he turned them to the side and wrapped his arms around her waist for demonstration. "And I have something better than a corsage."

"What?" she made eye contact with him through the mirror. He'd already bought her a ring, what more could there be.

"Close your eyes," he insisted.

"Really? Fine," he sighed, obeying. She felt something cold slide around her neck. She opened her eyes and gasped at the diamond necklace he secured. She touched it. "Thank you! It's perfect."

On the way to the elevator they ran into other Superstars and couples. Maybe she was biased but she thought they looked the best.

"Let's go find my mom so she can sit with us," she told him when they arrived at the Barclays Center. They went backstage where the inductees were.

Nattie was standing around talking to her husband when she spotted Lily. "Hello gorgeous!"

"Hello yourself," Finn replied.

"Huh?" Nattie's brows knitted.

"Oh, we have this thing where we...you know what nevermind," Lily laughed. "You look amazing."

"Thank you. I love that our dads are going in together tonight," Nattie said. Lily could see that her eyes were beginning to water so she consoled her by rubbing her back. She still felt bad about her promo on Nattie's and Jim's relationship a few months ago. Nattie pulled it together and took a deep breath.

"I can't wait to hear your speech tonight. I know you're going to kill it. I see my parents over here so I'm going to go join them," she replied. "Mom!"

"You look beautiful, Lily," Shawn complimented.

Ignoring him, she only addressed her mom. "Are you ready to go sit down?"

"Picture?" a photographer stood in front of them. The four of them together with Lily making sure to stand in between Finn and her mom. Shawn and her mom. Lily and Finn opportunity to prom pose. Then the photographer had a request. "How about one with just Shawn and Lily?"

"Alright," Lily muttered. The two stood together awkwardly and she shrugged his hand off when he put it around her shoulder. "Mom, lets go."

They were shown to their seats in the front row.

"Do you want to do the red carpet interviews?" Finn asked.

Not really because she knew she'd be asked about Shawn and would have to fake it but he seemed to be into it so she agreed. "As long as it's not Cathy…"

"Nah, we'll go over to Charly," he replied. Charly was standing near Cathy who was interviewing someone else.

"Tonight your father will become a two time hall of famer going in solo in 2011 and now with DX," Charly held the mic to her. "What are your thoughts on that."

"I'm happy to be here tonight because I missed his first induction. DX's induction tonight is well deserved. They've accomplished so much as a team and as solo acts. You can't even talk about the attitude era without mentioning DX and I am so proud of him," she answered robotically with no emotion as if she was speaking about a stranger instead of her father.

"Finn, on Sunday you'll have a chance to win back your Intercontinental Championship from Bobby Lashley. You're bringing out the demon... Wait, is this an engagement ring I'm seeing," Charly gasped. The cameraman lowered his camera to her hand. Charly's voice raised with excitement when she said it so Cathy's head jerked around as a result.

"Not yet but we're getting there," Finn replied.

"We'll be on the lookout. I'll let you guys take your seats," Charly said, as the next couple approached.

"I hope it's not as long as last year's," Finn said once he sat down.

When DX rode out on their tank, everyone stood but her butt remained firmly planted in her seat. Finn was moving to stand but she grabbed his knee to keep him down as well. At one point the camera panned to them. Finn smiled but her expression was blank.

Later Lily showered the body glow off. She asked if he wanted to join but he declined. He'd been oddly quiet since they returned. She walked back into the room wrapped in a towel. "I'm still thinking about what happened to Bret. That was crazy! Why Bret? He's so nice and doesn't bother anyone. If that guy just _had_ to attack someone it should've been Hogan at least...or my dad."

Finn was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor. When he raised his face, his expression was stern. " _Lily,_ you've either been outright lying to me or lying to me by omission. I want the truth."

"W-what are you talking about?" she stuttered.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you really expect me to believe that you snubbed your own father on his big night over a laugh?"

There was no choice but to come clean. "My dad was gearing up to play matchmaker..."

"Matchmaker? To who?"

"To me. It's Mania weekend so every division is here. Apparently he came across some NXT and NXT UK guys who he thinks are better fits for me," she revealed and he shot to his feet. He threw his jacket off and then jerked his tie loose around his neck. "Fergal, what are you doing?"

"Enough is enough. Get dressed!" he demanded. Rage was laced in his voice and this was the angriest she'd ever seen him.

"I wouldn't have told you if I knew you'd be upset," she said quietly.

"Of course I'm upset! For months I've taken his shit trying to be respectful but there's a breaking point for everything and this is it," he angrily replied.

"You know what, you're absolutely right," she acknowledged with a nod. His tone didn't call for delay so she shrugged on his suit jacket. It fell to her thighs like a dress and she buttoned it before sliding her feet into a pair of slippers. "Let's go."

Finn was fuming as he stalked down the hallway. "Call your mom and see if he's in their room."

"I'll text her. If I call she'll ask extra questions that I don't feel like answering."

 **Lily: Is Dad in the room?**

 **Mom: No, I'm not even in the room.**

 **Lily: Where r u?**

 **Mom: Catching up with some WAGs from back in the day. Shawn is down at the hotel bar.**

 **Lily: K. Have fun**

"Downstairs we go," she said, showing him the text and they headed straight to the elevator.

People were speaking to Finn when they entered the bar but he didn't stop to chat. He walked like a man on a mission and even though he held her hand she was struggling to keep up.

"There's a lot of people in here so please don't cause a scene," she whispered.

"That all depends on him," he replied.

"Oh no," she groaned.

"What? I'm not going to hit him or anything. He's a 53 year old man walking around in a body that's been worn down by years of ring wear and tear. I didn't even hit him when he hit me," Finn laughed which made her feel a little better.

"And there he is," she spotted him in conversation with Roderick Strong. The talk ended because they shook hands before Roderick walked away.

Finn cleared his throat to make Shawn aware of his presence. "I can guess he wasn't one of the men you had lined up for Lily because he's just as old as me _and_ married."

Shawn looked at her. "You told him."

"Of course she did," Finn answered for her. "I know you're still in denial about this but we are very much a couple and that's what couples do."

"You look here..." Shawn began.

"No, _you_ look. I don't want to hear you attempt to rationalize this. What if one of the guys came up to me and said, ' _Hey I know you're happy with her but Lily's too young and childish for you. You need a real woman. Here's a list of female superstars who are a better fit!'_ That would be bullshit and what you did to your own daughter was bullshit. You are not going to stop until you push her away for good. During those other incidents _I_ was the voice of reason and even yesterday before she told me everything I was trying to reason with her but now, if she never speaks to you again it wouldn't make a difference to me. As a matter of fact it may be better that way because every time you're around for longer than 5 minutes you bring nothing but drama into our lives! I'm too old for this shit so you damn sure are."

"And you're just going to stand there?" Shawn asked Lily.

"What am I supposed to say, Dad? He's absolutely right. Today was the last straw and I don't know what you could possibly do that would make up for it. I'm sorry but I'm with Ferg on this. As a matter fact, I'm not even sorry," she grabbed his hand and walked away.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, it was hard but it had to be done," she shrugged. "What do you want to do now?"

"Well, you know during Mania weekend a lot of indie promotions plan shows in and around the host city so a lot of my old friends from Japan and from the OG Bullet Club are in town and wanted to hang out. I told them no earlier because you were upset but since we're out now, do you want to go?"

"Let's do it!"

* * *

Lily stood backstage watching the women go out for the preshow battle royal.

"I thought you were going to be in it?" Finn asked from behind, already in his demon paint.

"Eh, it's not worth changing into gear for. I sent Hunter a text last night and told him to let an NXT girl have my spot," she replied. "The Smackdown girls are crazy for going out there after the way they were screwed over with the last minute title change to Charlotte. You know I love her to death but that was bullshit."

"Can I be honest for a second? Everybody can't send _Hunter_ a text telling him what they will and won't do. I'm just saying…"

"Are you trying to say that I'm privileged?" she pretended to be offended. "The only real perk I have is being able to smart off with Hunter. No, they can't but at some point you have to stand up for yourself. That's how the women's evolution started in the first place. Passive aggressive tweets and retweets are fine but if they refused to go out there, the fans wouldn't blame them and there was no way they'd get fired after the way they've been treated."

"Yeah, the rest of the division did get sidelined in the last few months but your time is coming," he encouraged.

"Yeah and I'm going to make sure. I'll be back in time to see you off before your match," she walked away to find Hunter's office.

"Come in," Hunter yelled after she knocked. When she swung the door open he was shirtless.

" _Ah_ , it wouldn't be Wrestlemania without the King of Kings inserting himself onto the card complete with an entrance longer than the Undertaker's," she snorted.

"I will never get used to seeing you with short hair. I have a few bones to pick with you little girl," Hunter said.

"As always..."

"Why are you showing up in group pictures with the competition? I don't care what Balor, Gallows and Anderson do because that's where they come from but your father is a WWE loyalist. He never wrestled for another company, you never see him propping up another company and you damn sure never see him hanging out with people from other companies."

"Calm down, I signed a 5 year contract which means I'm not going anywhere anytime soon so it shouldn't matter who I associate with," she rolled her eyes.

"It matters when every single man standing around you including Finn was holding a drink. You're the face of an anti-drinking campaign," he countered.

"Correction: I'm the face of an anti- _underage_ drinking campaign. The only person under 21 in that picture was me and I wasn't holding anything. I didn't taste one drop of alcohol besides what was transferred from Fergal's tongue when we kissed," she smiled.

Hunter cringed. "Did not need to know that."

"I know but you know I like to take any opportunity I can to make you and my dad squirm."

"Speaking of your dad, what did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything to him."

"Apparently you told him that he was the worst father ever and then sent your boyfriend after him."

" _He is_ and I didn't send Fergal anywhere; he went on his own to have a conversation that was long overdue," she replied.

"You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, raised in a mansion, showered with anything you wanted, went to the best schools and now you have a WWE career. It could've been worse, Lily," he chastised.

"Okay and I acknowledge all of that but it still doesn't give him the right to try to pimp me out to other men!"

"Wait, what?" his head snapped.

"Oh, he didn't tell you that he's been scouting development talent for me to date in another failed attempt to ruin my relationship. I'm surprised you aren't in on it since those are your handpicked guys," Lily stared at him accusingly.

"It's Wrestlemania weekend, Lily. I have far more important things to be concerned with than your relationship. When things slow down in a few weeks maybe I'll resume doing my share of plotting against you two but as for right now that was all Shawn and he didn't tell me anything about that. He only mentioned the 205 Live thing."

"Yeah, well it happened. Moving on, I didn't come in here to talk about my dad or watch you flex in front of the mirror. I wanted to talk about my direction post Mania…"

"You want to talk about your direction on the biggest and busiest night of the year?"

"Yep, because tomorrow is officially the start of a new season and I want to make sure I'm fresh on your mind because it seems that I've been forgotten about."

"No, you haven't. You're where you are for a reason. It's part of your character arc. We don't want another Charlotte Flair pushed straight to the top situation with you. Just hang tight for a bit and it's all going to work out," he assured.

"If you say so Hunter but if I don't see any progress by Summerslam I'm going to be back and I won't be as civil," she stood from her chair. "Good luck tonight. Don't pull a quad."

"Thanks, I guess," he chuckled.

Lily watched the monitors during the show all the way up until it was time for The Demon to make his entrance. The Demon was undefeated so she knew he'd win but still she jumped up and down backstage when he did. As always she waited for him behind the curtain.

"They gave you the good pain tonight. Usually it's smudged or sweated off by the time the match ends," she kissed him.

"Well the match was less than 5 minutes. If I had about 10 more it would be on the canvas. It's actually on you now," he said, scrubbing her lips with his thumb.

"Leave it, I want everyone to know I've been marked by The Demon," she replied.

As they walked they passed Shawn. "Hey congrats. I'm happy for you."

Lily held her hand up to silence him. "Save it because we know you don't mean it."

* * *

"Sometimes I actually enjoy this crowd better than the Mania crowd," Lily noted the next night in the locker room.

 **Hunter: My office. ASAP.**

"Lily, your father-" Hunter began before Lily interrupted.

She huffed. "I don't care."

"Well forget it," he leaned backwards in his chair and linked his fingers together.

Sighing impatiently, she leaned against the wall. "Fine, what is it."

"Shawn called a meeting with Vince today that resulted in us putting a title on you tonight," he divulged.

An intense wave of shock hit her as her heart dropped. Her mouth opened and closed several times like a fish gasping for air as she tried to think of something to say. "Tonight of all nights?"

"This has always been a night of twists, turns, debuts and the unexpected, why not?"

"After that historic moment last night? Becky was finally crowned and you're going to take it away from her already?"

"It'll play into her 'the authority is trying to screw me' grievance," he replied.

Lily always dreamt of this moment but not here, not now. She was officially panicking. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"Don't you? Isn't that the reason you burst into my office last night?"

"I did but I was thinking it would happen gradually like I would have time to get used to being in the spotlight before a title run. I don't know if I'm ready for this yet," she confessed.

"When opportunity comes knocking around here you better answer because who knows when it'll come around again."

"Oh my god! Well at least I had special gear made for the battle royal before I decided to pull out. How do you think the crowd is going to react?"

"Who cares," he shrugged. "You're heel."

"And my dad did this?" she blinked.

"He did," Hunter confirmed with a nod. "He came to me first but I didn't think it would be the best idea right now because the fallout between Becky, Ronda and Charlotte hasn't played out yet. Plus, I wanted to build you up a little but he decided to go over my head and go directly to Vince. You're young, blonde, pretty, a generational superstar, competent in the ring and your face is shown on every channel throughout the day on your commercial so mainstream. Of course Vince said yes."

"I guess this is his way of redeeming himself. I won't say all is forgiven but at least he trying..."

"Alright, get out of here. You've never faced Becky before so I think you have some things to talk about," Hunter replied. "Then come back. We're going to discuss what you want to say."

The intensity and combination of her fear, excitement and anxiety caused Lily's heart to pound so hard she thought she was threatening a heart attack. She couldn't even see straight and the hallway felt like it was spinning as she walked.

Lily almost felt like passing out and Becky was right there, approaching her. She could make out the red hair as her eyes adjusted. "Becky, I don't know if they told you but there's going to be a title change tonight."

"I heard," Becky replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just a little nervous. I hope you aren't mad. It's been a long road for you and to have it taken from you this quick can't be what you imagined…"

"No, but I lived my dream last night already. It's in the books and I couldn't be more satisfied," Becky replied. "Things weren't going as well as they are now for me when I went to shoot The Marine 6 with Shawn. I remember him giving me advice saying, ' _When you go back there, go back with a different air about you. Go back knowing that you're a star, and make sure you hold yourself like that.'_ And that's exactly what I did. I listened to him, and I came back here and knew I was gonna take over the world, and that was my whole goal. I think I did well. It's not over but if I can help someone else get their moment, especially Shawn's daughter, I'm all for it."

* * *

Finn was waiting to see a copy of tonight's card when Lily appeared out of nowhere. She was dressed in what appeared to be a feminine version of Shawn's Wrestlemania 12 attire but the silver hearts were upside down.

"Whoa, you have a match tonight?"

"Yes!" she smiled from ear to ear.

"Against who?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm just happy to be going out there," Lily replied and he could tell that she was blatantly hiding something.

"You seem so giddy. Is something going on?"

"You'll just have to watch the show and see. No spoilers," she winked. "So what do you have going on tonight?"

"I have no idea. I'm waiting to hear something now. I think I'm…" he trailed off when he saw her smiling again. "What, Lilith?"

"Nothing! I love you," she kissed him on the cheek. "I have to go."

Becky opened the show. He was expecting Ronda or Charlotte to confront her but instead Lily's music hit.

"Oh, Charlotte-lite. Look kid, I already defeated the superior version of you last night in the main event of WrestleMania. Run along and continue being handed everything without working for it a day in your career," Becky confronted.

Lily raised the mic to her mouth but was drowned out by loud boos and Becky chants. As she got closer to the ring, she could see Becky's smug smirk.

"From the moment Michaels was attached to my name they've hated me so those Becky chants and boos? I don't give a damn about them or your _Beckbeard_ , I mean, neckbeard fans. Let's talk about being _handed_ something. You were flat out _handed_ a spot in the Rumble that you hadn't earned especially after you lost to Asuka an hour before. Then, after you were taken out of the Mania main event, a match between you and Charlotte took place that would decide your fate. Ronda interrupted the match to _hand_ you your spot back. You'd come out here for weeks and whine about being held back but in reality you've been pushed more than anyone! I've never had a title match, I've never had a proper feud besides that Nattie crap which doesn't count because she sucks and there have been several Raws where I've sat in catering watching the monitors. Meanwhile, you beat Charlotte for the title at Hell in a Cell, retained over her at Evolution, main evented at TLC, stood toe to toe with Steph and Hunter, got to mock Cena in his return on Smackdown and last night, main evented Wrestlemania and won. Do the math and tell me who's been _handed_ the most? I'm not Charlotte so your recycled _handed everything_ argument is invalid. Usually, your ace in the hole is going personal and hitting below the belt but I'm taking that power away from you, too. Yes, I'm a Michaels and only here because of my dad. Yes, I'm a spoiled rich kid. Yes, I got drunk one night and threw up all over myself. And yes, my boyfriend is way too old for me. I think that just about covers everything," Lily argued and a few fans seemed to be coming to her side. She continued. "Tonight is the night that I finally get _handed_ something and that's a title match for the _RAW_ women's championship. I'd challenge for both titles but I'm not selfish enough to hold two titles hostage from the division like you're doing now! Oh and Hunter wanted me to tell you that the match starts... _now_."

The bell rang and Lily started the match gaining the upper hand and grounded The Man with a thunderous dropkick, but Becky had a backfist ready. Lily took the fight to Becky with a flurry of strikes including a kick to the face, but Becky was having none of it and dropped Lily with a jumping forearm strike.

Backstage, Finn couldn't figure out if Lily was actually going to do it or if they were just giving her the opportunity to show the world that she was a threat and belonged in the title picture in the coming months.

He got his answer when Becky began selling pain from last night. Lily pushed her face first into the ring post hard and when Becky turned around she was caught with Sweet Chin Music. 1...2...3.

Finn gasped in shock and those around him reacted the same.

'The winner of this match and _the new_ Raw Women's Champ, Lily Michaels!' that announcement brought goosebumps to his arm.

The crowd initially popped when she kissed the title and raised it above her head but because the place was littered with smarks they had to find some way to hijack the moment. A dueling, ' _don't deserve it'_ followed by, ' _yes she does_ ' erupted.

Lily climbed out of the ring to hug her mom and then she went down the line and hugged his parents. Then as she began to walk up the ramp, Shawn's music played which surprised Finn because this would be the first time they were seen together on WWE TV. It apparently shocked Lily too because she stopped for a moment before running into his arms. Shawn appeared to be blinking back tears as he whispered something in her ear that she responded to with a nod. She wiped her eyes with her before facing the crowd again to hold up her title.

Finn began walking toward gorilla to meet her. Everyone in gorilla including Mr. McMahon clapped for as they entered. They walked a little further away and began talking.

"I'm still mad at you but thank you for making this moment epic!" she said to Shawn.

"I know, I know. I'm embarrassed at what I did but now's not the time to get into that," Shawn replied. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes, Dad, I know," Lily nodded. Looking up, she caught eyes with Finn and smiled.

Shawn turned around and saw him as well. He walked Lily over to him. "I'll leave you two alone."

That was nice but Finn wondered when Shawn would revert back to his old ways again. Eventually, Lily would forgive him if she hadn't already but he didn't plan on forgiving or forgetting any time soon.

" _I'm not sure yet. I'm just happy to be going out there,_ " Finn mocked her.

She laughed. "If I told you, it wouldn't have made the moment as special. There's nothing better than legit shock which is why I said no spoilers."

"You're absolutely right. Congratulations, baby. I'm sure there are many girls who they could've sent out there but no one would've worked the mic and the ring better than you tonight. Forget those people, you totally deserve it," he pulled her into a lingering hug. "I love you, _champ_."

"I love you too, _champ_ ," she said. "Let's go home so we can have champion sex."

"Uhm, babe, there's over 2 hours left in the show," he chuckled. "It didn't end after you were crowned."

"Oh yeah," she pouted. "I guess I can go get my side plates done now while I wait."

Alexa hugged her from behind. "Congratulations! I still hate you."

"Thanks, I still hate you too," Lily replied.

"I can't wait to take it off of you," Alexa said.

"You'd actually have to get back in the ring first in order to do that," Lily countered.


	15. Shake It Up

**Wrote this in a hurry, forgive any mistakes...**

* * *

"This one is my favorite," Lily cleared her throat to read Instagram comments from her phone. " _Finn Balor, how dare you call yourself an Irishman and congratulate the girlfriend who would do that to your fellow countrywoman_."

"I'm more offended that he said country... _woman_ ," Becky snorted in the locker room.

Tonight was a bittersweet. The shakeup. This may be the last time she shared the locker room with this group of ladies. Over the last few months they'd connected, formed bonds, the good, the bad and the ugly.

"We know for sure who is staying," Dana said, looking over at Lily.

Lily looked at the title on her lap and that's when she thought about it. Her spot on RAW is cemented but what about Finn? Sure, he was the Intercontinental Champion but the title wasn't brand exclusive.

Her worries were eased a little when Finn went out there to face the Raw debuting Andrade. Finn was pinned thanks to multiple distractions by Zelina. Because of this, she assumed a new feud was beginning between him and Andrade.

She approached him when he returned backstage. "We hadn't discussed the draft so for a minute there I was worried that we'd be separated but thankfully that's not the case."

He swallowed, his eyes darting around wildly. "Lilith, I-I...uh, I have to head back to the locker room. This will be your first promo as champ so you need to kill it. I'll be watching."

A producer pulled her aside to fill her in about an impromptu backstage segment she'd be apart of before the commercial break before she went out.

Andrade and Zelina were filmed walking backstage speaking Spanish. Lily approached Zelina.

"You've been doing the hurricanrana spot since NXT, don't you think it's time to try something new?" Lily asked.

"As long as they're still falling for it, like Finn Balor tonight, I'll continue to do it," Zelina sneered.

"Yeah, he did but Finn is a gentleman and wouldn't dare retaliate...but that's why he has me," Lily said, forearming her into the wall before walking away.

They were back from commercial and Lily's theme played. She received mixed reactions which was expected. Since the night she'd won the title fans had been enraged.

As soon as her theme ended, the 'don't deserve it' chants began.

"Who are you people to tell me what I don't deserve. As bad as you've treated me over the last year, I could care less about your opinions. I'm not Becky. I'm not going to cater to you smarks to make you feel like I'm one of you which makes you feel special. Becky 2 Belts, no more. I felt really bad afterwards because they already had those cringy shirts printed and on the merch stands and website before I came out. I guess I'm the new Heartbreak Kid after all," she laughed and that's when the crowd erupted with, 'We want Becky' chants.

"Oh, you want Becky to awkwardly tough guy walk down to the ring with her chin sticking up like she's looking in the mirror to pop a zip to say, ' _Oim the man! Blonde, bad. Me, gooud,_ " she said, mimicking Becky's accent and it was received by boos. "What? Was my impression _that_ bad? I practiced it on my Irish boyfriend and he thought it was spot on. Moving on, I am the champ now, therefore Raw will revolve around me and there's nothing any of you people out here or the women back there can do about it."

Becky's theme hit and she began walking down the ramp until Lacey attacked her from behind and they began brawling.

Lily cleared her throat in the mic. "Last I checked, Becky is wearing a blue title around her waist so unless you two have been drafted here tonight, take this crap to Smackdown tomorrow where it belongs. Now, if a RAW challenger wants to step up…"

Now it was Alexa's theme...

Lily sighed. "You've been _allegedly_ injured and running a talk show ever since Ronda kicked your ass and took your title. Now that she's gone you're back in the ring. How convenient."

"At least she kicked my ass. Where were you? Hiding behind Daddy and Hunter? What's even more convenient is that you've never stood in the same room as Ronda but you get an undeserved title opportunity on Becky the night after she's gone. Hmm, did Shawn not want little princess coming home with a broken arm and bloody face?" Alexa shot back.

"The word undeserved shouldn't come out of your mouth, Alexa. Please don't make me run down your undeserved opportunities and accomplishments," Lily scoffed. "You've been out all this time and when returned last week for your match against Bayley, you didn't have anything to show for yourself in the ring. Worry about improving your work rate because it's going to take more than a few punches, one little high flying move and a DDT to take this title from me."

When she made it backstage, Finn was dressed and waiting for her. "You were awesome."

"Thank you! I'm so tired. Let's get back to the hotel so we can prepare for this flight in the morning," she replied.

The corners of Finn's mouth turned down into a sad frown. "Actually, I have to stay in Montreal."

"What? Why?" Lily's heart dropped, her mouth becoming dry. "Please don't tell me…"

He slowly nodded to confirm. "I'm afraid so. I was told when I arrived but I didn't want to upset you before you had to go out to the ring. Remember what happened last time you had to perform when you were emotional?"

That brought her mind back to Evolution when shit hit the fan between Finn and her dad. She still had to go on but ended up leaving the ring abruptly. She shook her head in denial, tears welling in her eyes, not wanting to accept this. "No, this isn't happening. This is a one big rib and before we leave tonight they're going to tell you that they were just trolling."

"Unfortunately, it's true. I've already seen the card for tomorrow night and I'm facing Mustafa," he replied.

With that confirmation, her sadness turned into anger. She stormed away. Lily burst into Hunter's office without knocking and slammed the door behind her. "Why did you do this?"

Hunter's head snapped up. "Do what?"

"Send Fergal to Smackdown!" she yelled. "You have to send me with him."

"Lily, you are the _Raw_ Women's Champion," he pointed out.

Lily gasped, that's when it clicked. "Is that why my dad did this? He knew if I was the Raw champ I'd be stuck. Finn can't go to Smackdown, keep him on Raw."

"I'm not in charge of any picks besides the ones from NXT. Everything else was Vince and he said it was final. My hands are tied," Hunter stated. "Vince is trying to stack Smackdown thanks to the FOX move and Finn is popular, good looking and sells merch. Of course he's going to the new A-show. I'm sure you would've gone too if you weren't champ."

" _Vince_ , this is Vince's doing a week after he had a meeting with my dad" Lily grabbed her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she found her father.

"Hello," he answered.

"Smooth, Shawn, very smooth," Lily responded.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You told Vince to put the Raw title on me and to send Fergal to Smackdown!"

"Wait, he's going to Smackdown?!" Shawn voice pitched, with surprise in his tone.

"Don't play dumb," Lily hissed. "Just admit it, okay?"

"I'm not playing. As much as I would love to take credit for this plan, I can't. I _wish_ I could but I can't," Shawn replied.

"Well you must've mentioned something negative about us that would make Vince do this," she accused.

"No, I did not. His name didn't come up. I try not to remind people that I allowed an almost 40 year old man snatch my daughter up right under my nose. Speaking of Vince, he's a 73 year old man with a billion dollar empire and a million different things on his plate. I doubt he even remembered or made the connection between you two before making his decision," at least it sounded like he was telling the truth and she was inclined to believe him. Shawn continued. "But you two are _soooooooooooo_ in love so being on separate brands shouldn't change anything."

"Bye, Dad," she detested how giddy he sounded. Now it was time to turn her attention back to Hunter. "You have to take this title off of me."

"No, I will do no such thing!"

"No?"

"That's what I said. Lily, you're spoiled. You snap your fingers and Shawn gives you what you want and so far I've been doing the same. We didn't derail the biggest women's angle of all time for your title reign just to end it in a week. You're going to have a proper title reign and it'll be defended at Money in the Bank. Whether you lose it there or not is to be determined," he firmly told her.

"Are you serious right now?" Lily stared at her.

"Yes. You aren't the first couple to be separated and you won't be the last. Hell, just tonight we brought Andrade over to Raw while Charlotte will remain on Smackdown. They'll make it work and so will you, _for now_ ," he emphasized.

"So you're saying there's a chance I'll be sent to Smackdown eventually," she questioned with a hopeful turn to her voice.

"Maybe, but for now you have to put your big girl panties on and _do your job_!" he insisted.

"Okay," she sighed in defeat knowing there was nothing she could do to change his mind. She also knew she wouldn't be able to approach Vince the way she approached Hunter.

 **Lily: Where r u?**

 **Ferg: Lockerroom, packing up.**

 **Lily: I'm about to do the same.**

 **Ferg: Any luck?**

 **Lily: :-(**

 **Ferg: Yeah, I tried to talk to Vince but he wasn't hearing it.**

 **Lily: Smh  
**

 **Ferg: I'll be waiting for you in the car.**

They drove in silence on their way to the hotel with Lily curled up in the passenger seat with her legs under her.

Finn broke the ice. "We've gotten over every obstacle thrown our way thus far. Nothing is going to change between us. In fact I'll love you even more now because they always say, absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Do you realize how much absence it'll be? I'm trying to do the math. Raw's schedule is Friday through Monday. Smackdown's schedule is Saturday through Tuesday. We'll only see each other on Wednesday and Thursday. We'll be going from spending every single day together to only 2 days a week," her voice broke. "And wait, Hunter said I can move to Smackdown eventually but what if eventually doesn't come before the FOX move in October? The schedule will be Thursday through Sunday because the show will be live on Fridays. That means you'll have Monday through Wednesday off. I'll be on the road Monday and my flight won't make it home on Tuesdays until noon depending on what city Raw was in so we'll only have a day and a half together because you'll be gone Thursday morning!"

"Wow, that is…" he blew a sharp breath out, not able to finish the sentence. "Smackdown will be here tomorrow so you stay and we'll spend every second together for the rest of the week before trying to get adjusted to our new schedules."

"That's it!" she sat up in her seat, excited that she'd found a solution. "I can just go to Smackdown every week instead of going home on Tuesdays! That way we can have an extra day together."

"No, babe, that's not going to work," he shook his head. "Road life is hard enough on one schedule. You're the champ now which means you're going to have to wrestle at every live event, you're going to have to go to interviews and promote it, you'll have to be on RAW every week. You're going to need your rest and it would be selfish of me to allow you to get in a car or on a flight to come to Smackdown's location when you could be home resting up."

Neither of them could sleep that night. They silently stared up into the darkness for what seemed like hours listening to each other breathe.


	16. Too Split

**As always, please excuse any mistakes or errors. I proofread and edit all the time, but things can still get overlooked sometimes.**

* * *

Sunday was the Shield's "Final Chapter." Lily was over Shield disbandings and reunions but this one provided an opportunity for her and Finn to be on the road together one last time because he was booked in a title match against Elias.

They'd been inseparable ever since the brand split. The only time they weren't together was when they were in the ring. Their respective locker rooms only served as a place to change because once they were dressed, they'd meet each other again.

Lily and Finn tried to make the best of the very little time they still had. But, try as they might, a looming sense of sadness tainted their every second together. They held hands and hugged all the time, but that only reminded them that soon they'd be pulled apart. In a way it all made sense. The universe had to throw a wrench into their world because they were perfect. _Too_ perfect.

The match ended and Finn retained. She moved to gorilla. This brought on another bitter thought. Unless it was a Pay Per View, she wouldn't get to do this anymore and there'd be no one standing there to greet her after matches either.

"Welp, they can't take me _and_ your title away. That would just be cruel and I'd have to harass Hunter more than I already am," Lily said.

"I don't think harassing him is a good idea. It might even aggravate him and make things worse," Finn replied.

Back at the hotel, they had sex, but their passionate urgency was heavy with inconsolable depression. They kissed softly for long lingering minutes, but most of the time the sweetness of their lips was mixed with the salty taste of Lily's tears.

"Hey, Lilith, come on, don't cry," he quietly assured her as he rolled onto his pillow. "We're going to be alright, okay?"

His tone was soothing but she received no comfort from it. Without answering, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

"Lilith," Finn called out as he stood over the bed.

"No!" Lily yelled into her pillow as she buried herself face first into it.

"Please?" he begged.

"I said no!" she snapped. "I'm not telling you goodbye and I'm not watching you walk out of that door. It hurts too much. Just leave or you'll only make this harder."

"No, _you're_ making this harder. Do you know how it's going to affect me knowing that you're not okay and I won't be here to make things better?"

"You knew from the start that I wasn't going to be okay with this!" she hissed.

" _Lily_! Look at me!" he demanded. His tone didn't left any room for argument so she obeyed, turning over to face him. He wasn't crying like she was but his eyes still conveyed sadness. "Our age difference, Cathy, Shawn, Triple H, our breakup, the fans, Shawn again. Let me know if I missed anything but that's everything that I can think of that we've been through and defeated. This can only break us if we let it."

"Fergal, I don't need a motivational speech, I need you! How are you so calm about this?" she questioned.

"I need you more but I know that I have a job to do. This isn't something I'm looking forward to but there's nothing we can do about it. I've acknowledged that and you have to as well. We can't stop it so we have to deal with it and only hope Triple H makes good on what he said about moving you eventually."

"You're right," she reluctantly admitted.

"I know I am. Trust me, I want to tear my hair out right now but I don't think you'd accept me bald," he chuckled which made her genuinely laugh for the first time since last Monday.

"I don't know. I'm trying to imagine it. You have a nice face and smile so you _may_ be able to pull it off as long as you keep your beard. Major emphasis on _may_ ," she reiterated. "Don't try it."

"Now that you're in a better mood, why don't you come give me a proper goodbye," Finn requested and Lily sat up to hug him. He held her tightly in his arms as she started crying again. "Please stop this or I won't be able to leave."

"Good!" her muffled voice spoke into his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know but I have a town to make," he sighed and she dried up enough for his benefit. He stood and grabbed his bags. "I'll see you Wednesday, okay? I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, holding herself together during his exit but she completely fell apart once the door snapped shut.

The silence was deafening. It consumed the room like a living presence. There was nothing except her and it was unbearable.

Lily did nothing until it was time to get ready to report to the arena. The only thing she did was shower, not caring enough to fix her appearance. She was pale and her eyes were puffy and red from crying all night and the morning.

"Damn it, Lily," Hunter hissed when he saw her. "You look like hell, rode hard and put away wet. Did you sleep at all last night? Did you eat? At least go to catering and grab yourself something."

"No, I don't want to eat. I can't wrestle tonight," she shook her head.

"The hell you can't!" he replied.

"You just said it yourself that I look like hell," she reminded.

"One trip to the makeup chair and you'll be alright..."

"No I won't!" she argued. "I'm not ready mentally or physically and if my head isn't in the game I don't want to go out there and risk my body or anyone else's body."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Stop being dramatic. This is not The Young and the Restless."

"I'm serious," she protested.

"You are the champ and even if I don't make you wrestle, you're going out there in some capacity so you might as well suck it up," he said, authoritatively.

All eyes were on Lily as she entered the locker room. The stares she received were a mix of concern, confusion and pity. "Yes, I know. I look like hell or so I've been told."

"I won't say hell but you look like you had a rough one this morning," Nattie commented. "But we know this is hard for you."

"I don't know what I'd do if me and Jimmy were separated," Naomi added.

"Better get married by the time the next Shakeup comes around because if you notice married couples, Naomi and Jimmy, Lana and Rusev, Zelina and Alesiter, Sarah Logan and that Viking Experience guy weren't separated while you couples living in sin were," Lacey replied.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lily nodded. "But I don't think that would've made a difference in our case."

The makeup team did manage to make her look presentable as she walked out during her theme but instead of going out to the ring, she made a right at the commentary table. The match she'd be talking about was Alexa Bliss vs Alicia Fox.

"Renee, Cole...Corey," Lily greeted into the headset as she sat down.

"I bet you regret not challenging for the Smackdown Women's Championship," Corey said, referencing the separation. "Finn, if you're watching, don't worry, I'll keep her company while you're gone."

Lily head snapped. "Excuse me? Corey, I may be blonde but I'm not one of one of the ones you drool over so show some respect. I'm not Alexa, I'm not Mandy Rose and she's not blonde at the moment but I'll throw her out there too: I'm certainly not Carme-"

"Let's focus on the action in the ring," Cole cut her off.

"What action?" Lily scoffed. "You do realize this is an Alexa Bliss match, right?"

"Your whole gripe with Alexa is that she can't wrestle but I haven't seen you put on a 5 star clinic yet," Corey challenged.

"I started training 2 years ago for just like 2-3 hours after school every day. Alexa trained at the Performance Center everyday, all day for 3 years and she's been on the main roster for another 3. I'm better than her already. Do you not see the problem there?"

"To be fair, I think you being better than Alexa is subjective," Renee added.

"Maybe but compare one of my matches to what we're looking at now. I'm not afraid to get hit, I'm not afraid to take risks and I'm not afraid to try something new. That's the difference between me and Alexa," Lily said right before Alexa hit her finisher. "And just like that, it's over and I can't name one thing that stood out about that match."

Alexa climbed on the ring post facing the commentary table pointing and talking crap. Lily stood on the commentary table and held her title up.

Backstage, Lily headed back to the locker room and found a text on her phone.

 **Fergal: You did great.**

 **Her: Thx. That was all I could handle tonight. :-(**

 **Fergal: Call me when u make it to the room.**

* * *

Instead of heading to Orlando Tuesday morning, she booked a flight to San Antonio. She knew she'd drive herself crazy alone in her apartment. She turned the key to her home and pushed it open. Excited barking welcomed her home.

A ball of fur happily threw himself at her and she knelt down on the floor to receive his dog kisses. She loved Frankie and getting used to the idea that she was barely going to see him was one of the most gut-wrenching things she'd had to deal with during her time on the road but at least she had Finn. Now he was gone.

"I know, I know. I missed you too. You know what, go pack your chew toys. I'm taking you with me," she decided.

"What the hell is that dog barking about?" Shawn's footsteps pounded down the hallway and she stopped when he caught sight of her. "Lily, you're home?"

"Yeah but don't get too excited. I'm only here to escape the silence. Very early tomorrow morning I'll be on a flight back to Orlando," she replied.

"Well, since you're here come on back to the 'narcissist room' as you call it," Shawn said and she followed.

He'd expanded her collection to pictures: the superkick she gave to Becky to win the title, the ref handing the title to her, the ringside picture of Lily hugging her mom, the picture of her and Shawn hugging and her official WWE profile picture with the title. There was another backstage shot after the match that should've featured Finn but Shawn cropped it to the point where all you could see was his ear.

"Ah, this is why I haven't received my replica belt yet. You have it," she noticed it behind the glass as well.

"Do you even have a display case or were you just going to sling it carelessly over the dresser in your room like you do everything else?" Shawn asked. "It's safer here."

"No, I don't have a display case but Fergal has all of his titles framed and hung on the wall and I was going to do the same," just mentioning his name caused her to sniffle.

Shawn responded by rolling his eyes. Over the phone she wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not about having a hand in Vince's decision but now, his annoyed body language told the story. "You need to get over it, Lily. You're Raw, he's Smackdown. No amount of tears and pouting is going to change a draft that's already done."

"Andrade was just moved back to Smackdown," she replied.

"He was moved because FOX wanted Latin stars," Shawn said.

"I'm sure WWE knew that from the beginning. I'm not falling for it. If anything, they're using that as an excuse to put him and Charlotte back together."

"Well unless we shake your mom's family tree and a Hispano ancestor she wasn't aware of falls out, you aren't Latin so what will be your excuse?"

"Trust me, I'll think of one," she nodded determinedly.

* * *

Just like she said, the next morning she was back in Orlando. She made breakfast and waited. 11:00 came so she started on lunch. Every time she heard footsteps on her floor, she stopped what she was doing and looked through the peephole. Disappointment. She wondered if this was how WWE WAGs felt waiting on their men to come home. At noon, she was hopeful when she finally caught a glimpse of someone from the Smackdown roster. If they caught the same flight out as Finn, he'd be walking through the door momentarily.

She heard her phone ringing and ran back into the kitchen to grab it. It was him. "Hello?"

He sighed into the receiver. "Hey."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to tell you this but...I was all set to fly home today when WWE asked me to do media and promotion for next week's Smackdown in Columbus, Ohio next week," he replied.

"What?" Lily was shock. She couldn't react and didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry," he apologized.

"Are they actively trying to split us up? Why do you need to do media? Smackdown Live is quote unquote, 'Roman's Yard Now' so make him do the promoting."

"Roman has a family and kids so they shifted the responsibility to me…"

"Please tell me you're coming home tomorrow?"

"Unfortunately, WWE UK is having an event that I'd already committed to before the Shakeup. I didn't remember it until this morning and I tried to back out but they've already advertised it," he revealed.

Now it was time to turn on the waterworks. "So that means I won't see you at all this week."

"Afraid so. I..." he trailed off and she heard barking in her home and through the phone. "Shh!"

"Wait..." Lily walked into the living room. Finn was standing in the door with Frankie wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Finn looked up and saw Lily. With the phone still pressed to his ear he said. "I have to go now, bye."

"Why would you do that to me?" she asked.

"I thought it would be a prank and then as soon as you got upset, I'd sneak up behind you. It would've gone as planned if Frankie didn't blow my cover. How did he get here anyway?" Finn asked. "Did you go to San Antonio?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to be here alone and I don't want to be alone on the road so I'm going to start leaving him in the hotel while I'm at the arena from now on," she punched him on the shoulder. "Don't change the subject, that was a cruel freaking prank and just mean!"

"I know, I'm sorry," he hugged her, resting his chin on top of her head. "I missed you. I've been on the road without you much longer than I have with you but it's just not the same."


	17. The Decision

**The Raw before MITB….**

For the last week Finn had been traveling on the Raw European tour, facing Elias. Lily didn't know if this was done for her benefit or because he was previously advertised before the draft but he'd spent the last week with her and she didn't care. It felt like old times especially when they had the opportunity to visit his parents in Ireland. She thought this would make her feel better but she knew when they made it back to America, he'd rejoin Smackdown and she'd be back to square one.

"Hello, Godfather," Lily smiled. She tried to be on her best behavior around Hunter for obvious reasons for the last week. She didn't want to do, say or give him any reason to retaliate against her. She sat in front of him in his office about an hour before show time.

"Lily, you've been in a good mood lately, I see. Wonder why," he snorted. "What brings you to my office tonight?"

"The pay per view is Sunday and I was wondering if you've come to a decision about the results..." she inquired.

"Yes, I have," he nodded. "You're retaining."

Lily's hopeful expression dropped. "You never planned on moving me to Smackdown, did you?"

"You and Alexa are killing each other in the promos and the backlash of your win has faded. Why stop the momentum now? Is Finn really more important than your career?" he asked and she didn't immediately answer. "Are you serious right now? Because if that's the case I'll gladly send you to Smackdown...but it's going to come at a price. It's up to you to decide whether or not you want to pay it. You'll have until Sunday to think about it."

Lily's eyes widened when she heard his next words.

"I, _as a five time women's champion_ , have nothing to prove to you, _a rookie_ ," Alexa was in the middle of her promo against Lily. "You want me to pull out all the stops but the truth of the matter is, all I'd really have to do is ask that Finn be banned from the arena during our match because _everyone_ in the back knows that you can't function without him."

"Focus on your fiancé...oh wait, he ran for the hills leaving you behind with a pig. How fitting," Lily retorted. "Alexa, I'm so confident I'll win this match that I'm adding my own stipulation. If I lose, I'll relinquish my rematch clause and never challenge you for the title again. As a matter of fact, I'll be so embarrassed I'll take it a step further and never challenge for the _RAW_ title ever again."

* * *

"What do you think I should do?" Lily asked Finn after the show.

"I can't make this decision for you," he shook his head, raking a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and began pacing the floor. "This will change your career path forever."

"At least give me some insight into what you're thinking, Ferg."

"I'm 37. Realistically, my career can only last another 5 years give or take before the wear and tear catches up. You're only 18 with no major injuries so you can last another 10 years if you take care of your body. I doubt you spend all 10 on Smackdown. Hell, what if we both get drafted back to Raw during the next Shakeup? You'll just be on the roster because you'll have hindered yourself by giving away your rights to the title," he stated.

"Rules and stipulations can be changed. Just look at the Shakeup that lasted all of 2 weeks before the Wild Card Rule was implemented," she pointed out.

"That was done for ratings purposes and unless you plan on remaining heel for the rest of your career, I don't see them reversing your stipulation going over well with fans," he replied. "It's going to be a major shit storm."

Lily could read between the lines of what he was saying."So in other words I should stay on Raw?"

"I...I told you that this is your decision to make," he slumped down on the bed. "All I'm saying is there's going to be a lot of potential fallout behind this. Life is too short to run full force into something without thinking it through which means you're going to have a lot to ponder on in the coming days. I just want you to know that I love you regardless of what you decide."

* * *

"Okay, I've decided," Lily stared between Hunter and her father who flew out to be present for her decision. They both appeared to be holding their breath.

"What's it going to be?" Hunter blurted in a rushed reply.

"I'm dropping the title and going to Smackdown," she could see the disappointment on their faces before she finished her statement.

Shawn stood, exasperated as he shook his head. "Why would you do this? I know in your mind you two will never break up but what if you do? You're going to hate him and yourself because you made the _conscious_ decision to sideline your own career for him."

"That's just a risk I'm willing to take," she shrugged. "I have to go find Alexa."

"What did you decide?" Finn stopped her on the way to the women's locker room.

"Team Blue," she replied.

He sighed. "I'm both happy and sad to hear that but if this is what you want, I'll have to accept it."

Lily stood in gorilla waiting for the current match to end when she heard Alexa hiss. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Alexa waved her off as she rubbed her temples. "It's just a headache."

Lily thought about Alexa's previous injuries and concussions. "Have you gotten checked out?"

"Not yet but I'll be okay," she replied.

"Alexa, you know that _most_ of my comments are just storyline, right? You don't really have to go out there and kill yourself during this match," Lily said.

"Oh trust me, neither your opinion nor the smarks opinion is not worth my health," Alexa commented just as her theme played.

Lily got her offense in early, practically schooling the more experienced Alexa but one counter was all Alexa needed to get an opening on Lily. Submissions, strikes, aerial moves, incorporating some of her gymnastic move, Alexa brought it all, and for a long time there was barely anything Lily could do about it. Alexa choked Lily in the ropes until the ref made her break. Lily managed pieces of offense here and there, but Alexa was in full control of the match which is exactly how it was meant to be. The story here was of an overly cocky rookie being put in her place….that is, until Lily countered one of Alexa's moves, sending her face-first into the turnbuckle. Lily charged at Alexa and ended up sunset flipped.

The severity of the situation began to crash down on Lily as she laid there flat on the canvas, watching Alexa climb to the top rope. Sure, she loved Finn but was she really going to sacrifice something so major for the sake of being with him? He'd stressed numerous times that he loved her and nothing, including distance was going to change that. Everyone in on the situation from her dad to Hunter to Finn were right but she was too stubborn to realize it. The road ahead without Finn was going to be hard but she had to do what she had to do. Plus, Alexa didn't seem to be in any condition to have another title reign right now. She performed well tonight, probably her best but Lily feared that something was _off_.

Alexa bounced off the ropes for Twisted Bliss and in an unscripted turn of events, Lily got up in time to connect Sweet Chin Music. She covered her, whispering, "Stay down."

1...2...3. "The winner of this match and _still_ Raw Women's Champion, Lily Michaels."

"I guess you're not just a lovesick teenager after all," Shawn said, meeting her in gorilla.

"You really surprised me out there and I respect you for coming to your senses to remain on Raw. However, I'm granting your wish and sending you over to Smackdown if that's what you want," Hunter said.

"Really?" Lily's brows rose but she wondered if this was a trick. "And I'm still eligible for the Raw title in the future?"

"Yes, you're eligible," he confirmed.

Squealing, Lily hugged both of them in one embrace. "You guys are awesome...until further notice."

Now it was time to find Finn. He was stretching as he prepared for the men's money in the bank match. "Hey, you."

Finn looked at her solemnly. "So you picked Raw. Honestly, I think you made the right choice."

"I know and I did it because I know that our love was strong enough to overcome even this…" pausing, she smiled. "However, in a strange turn of events, I'm going to Smackdown."

"What?" he exclaimed, his mouth gaping open in shock before his lips spread into a smile.

"I know right?" she giggled.

Finn scooped her up into a hug, lifting her feet from the ground, they kissed. "Wait, what about your title?"

She shrugged. "I don't know but I assume I'll be losing it soon so we better have championship sex while we still can."

They heard noise on the monitor as Kofi pinned Kevin Owens. Finn looked down at her. "I have to get to gorilla for my match so I'll see you later. Oh, and before you approached, I saw Alexa being helped into the trainer's room so you might want to go check on her."

Lily knocked on the trainer's office before opening it. Alexa was sitting on the exam table. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I threw up after I made it backstage and now I'm showing signs of a concussion so no…" Alexa revealed.

Lily felt guilt creep into her belly though she didn't recall any big bumps during the match. "I am so sorry."

"Relax," Alexa shook her head. "Apparently, I had it prior to this match. The headache, remember?"

"Oh, right," Lily nodded. "Welp, at least you have other talents to fall back on until you're ready to get back in the ring."

"Yeah, well until then, thank you for tonight. Now leave…"

Lily watched the monitors in horror as Finn took back bump after back bump. She can't recall ever fearing for his safety as much as this moment. Brock and Paul Heyman passed her on their way to gorilla. _No way_. Yep. Finn was currently the Intercontinental Champ so she had a feeling that he wasn't going to win but the small chance that he had just evaporated as soon as Lesnar's theme played.

"What the hell were you thinking taking those bumps?" Lily chastised Finn when he made it to the back. "You literally talked to me recently about taking care of my body and estimating how much longer yours will last only to turn around and get powerbombed from a ladder onto another one!"

"I'll be sure to call Leonie when we make it back to the hotel room to notify her that you've taken her spot as my ma," he snorted, humorously. "It looked bad and it hurt but I'm okay."

* * *

 **Tuesday afternoon**

Finn watched Lily's face intently and knew she was close. Another indication was her tightening around him. His gaze dropped down to the red and white belt around her waist and then at the one around his. She began bucking against him but he held her hips, stopping her. He told her that life was too short to run full force into something…that meant orgasms as well. When they caught eyes, Lily blushed and looked away which made him chuckle. After all these months in which they've tried every position known to man, she was still bashful during the act. He could slow it down and try to make it last longer but he knew that his own orgasm was seconds away.

Finn rose to his knees, lifting her hips with him. He increased the speed of his thrusts, feeling the tight wetness wrapping itself around every inch of him. Her entire body shuttered, crying out. The impending, inescapable feeling overcame him as well and with one final thrust, he exploded.

"We should've filmed that especially since this may be our last time having championship sex for a while," Lily said after she caught her breath.

"Absolutely not! The way our luck runs we'll get hacked."

"Yeah, hacked or I'll accidentally upload it to Snapchat," she cringed.

Finn was happy with the decision she made. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if she forfeited her championship contention for his sake. If Shawn didn't ruin them, her eventual resentment and bitterness about her choice would have. It all worked out in the end though.

Later that night, Zelina slapped him in the middle of his match against Andrade. He stared her down before pointing at the ramp seconds before Lily's theme hit for a pop. She ran down to the ring and brawled with Zelina.

"Per the orders of Shane McMahon, this is now a tag match!" Lily said to the ref, taking off her Raw title and handing it to him to put away.

Finn was going to be facing Andrade for the title at the Saudi Arabia show so they went at it for a while in the ring until he laid Andrade out. Zelina tried to attack him again but Lily prevented it. She tried for her hurricanrana but Lily countered it into a powerbomb. With both of them down, Finn pointed at the top rope for her to get on across from him. They both came down on their opponents in sync for a duel Coup de Grace. 1...2...3. They celebrated with a kiss and a Too Sweet before exiting the ring. That's when Becky's theme hit. He was wondering how they'd get the title off of Lily so she could be done with Raw for good and apparently this was it.

"You may have pulled the heist of the century when you took advantage of my Wrestlemania match the night before to win the belt but I'm 100% now and we have unfinished business because you still owe me a rematch!" Becky said.

"Let's talk about taking advantage of something. You had over a month to take advantage of your rematch clause but instead, you've been over here rehashing your _tired_ feud with Charlotte. I owe you nothing!"

"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that you're a coward. I mean, Shawn was an arrogant, self-centered, egotistical, self-righteous, overbearing arse especially before he _allegedly_ 'found God' and you're going down the same path which would be excusable... if you actually inherited his talent and charisma; you didn't."

"Oh, I see what this is. I bet you thought I'd get angry and act out emotionally and accept your challenge to defend my father's honor but I'm not. You went from Becky 2 Belts to Becky 1 Belt to Becky _no_ Belts and now you're Becky chase a Belt but it won't be this one," Lily held her Raw title high.

Finn leaned over and whispered something in her ear as planned making sure that his voice was picked up by Lily's mic. "You have to be a fighting champion if you're going to hold it."

"What?! No! She lost to Charlotte Sunday who was cashed in on by Bayley. For the first time since last year she's out of the title picture and the WWE Universe should be thanking me for it because they won't have to endure that God awful accent."

"Excuse me?" Finn recoiled, trying to look offended.

"Not yours, babe," she replied. He whispered to her again. "Fine! If you want me to embarrass your fellow Irish _Man_ again next week, I will."


End file.
